Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

About your brakes- You might want to pull your master and booster apart and see if there's a gap between the rods. The one coming from the booster is adjustable and you want them to juuuuust touch at rest. I bet you have a small gap in there. Just went through this with my new build. Beater 4x4 looks great!

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

I don't have a lot to show for day 1 of Vintage Air install. I assembled the condenser and drier, but the "well nuts" provided do not fit through the factory holes in the core support. I really don't want to take the grill off just to make two holes slightly bigger.

Speaking of taking off parts to make holes... I thought I wouldn't have to take the inner fender off since the previous owner removed all the factory ac components. It turns out I will just to drill a few holes for installing the firewall plate. All the old rusty bolts for the inner fender came out except one, and it has me defeated for today. Too hot outside to continue.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

always has to be one bolt that won't cooperate...

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

I hear that it's hot there. I just watched the noon news. Keep plugging away at it your experience is gonna help me out.....lol..

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Jimbo, hate to say it but you're gonna have to take off at least the inner grill anyway. I'm finishing up the VA project now, and there was no way to put those aluminum lines through the core support with all their bends with the inner grill installed. Pretty quick taking it off, 8-10 screws maybe? I just dropped it down, did not remove it completely. The rubber well nuts were bigger than the holes in my core support also, just drilled the holes SLIGHTLY bigger.

Would also be hard to do this without dropping the inner fender, be easy to drill right through it when you make your drain hole later. I left the front vertical bolts installed loosely, no need to take the inner fender off completely unless you want to for some reason. See pic, it's just hanging there by the front bolts.

Also, quick tip, before you bolt in your AC unit in the cab run your wiring harness wires through the grommet in the firewall. It was kind of a PITA to get back behind the box and run the wires with the AC box in the way.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Thank you for the tips! Totally appreciated!

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

I got it. It took two pairs of vice grips and a lot of cursing, but I got it. The darn clip on nut behind one bolt was busted.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

My engineer friend helped me design a rear bumper in Solidworks. He is going to cut and form it at his work.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

That bumper looks pretty nice

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

I finished mounting the firewall plate this morning. The fresh air duct and the kick panel vent are sealed off too.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

I found the factory AC vents that were in a crate of parts the previous owner of the truck gave me. A quick wash and they were ready for the Vintage Air duct adapters and installation.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Per the advice from NorCalC20LWB, I accepted my fate and tore the grill and bumper off the truck for access to install the condenser. I also ran the wiring through the firewall before the evaporator, which I assembled this morning.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

It's looking good, your making it look fairly simple too.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Man, Jimbo, you do move right along, looking good! Good idea to take the whole grill off, couple of extra bolts but then you don't have to deal with the hassle of putting the grill insert screws/plastic nuts back in. Once you get the inner box in it's pretty much smooth sailing from there.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

All I had time for today is the condenser hard lines, safety switch, and reassembly of the grill and bumper.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

The condenser and hard lines look clean. Were they prebent?

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

All the hard lines are pre-bent. The AC hose kit they sent is custom length, so I will have to have a shop make those for me. I would have preferred pre-made hoses, but that was not an option from the Pro Performance website where I bought the system.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Your kit did not include pre made hoses? That's different from mine, everything came ready to install like the pic I posted above. I bought mine from MCB in the bay area, who advertises on this site, wonder if the kits vary by vendor?

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

I went to replace the crank pulley this morning and found an unexpected issue - the harmonic balancer crank bolt is missing. I can feel threads, but the hole was full of mud like it has been missing for a long time. I think I have to fix this.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Jimbo, I just finished my VA install and had it charged, you will like the results, ice cold! If your truck was a non AC cab, do you need this part? It's the bracket to connect the AC lines to the battery box. If you can use let me know and I'll get it in the mail. I didn't need it because mine is an AC cab.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Mine was an original AC truck and that part is left over from my install too. I found the original hard line bracket that I needed in a bucket of parts that the previous owner gave me. I appreciate the offer.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

The evaporator is installed under the dash.

Seriously, why a 5/8" hole for the drain? Nobody has a drill bit that size. It costs almost $20 at Lowe's to buy one. I have a tough time spending that just to drill one hole.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

1/2 inch drill and dremel would work or a step bit. But too late now......

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

I bought a $7 step bit at Harbor Freight this morning. Worked great.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Harmonic balancer bolt was just missing. I got a new bolt at the parts store and installed the new pulley without any issues.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Looking good.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

The ducts are in the dash like spaghetti.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Awesome,......

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

FedEx said my compressor and controls were delivering yesterday but they didn't show. So today I played with wiring for the new gauges. Temp and volt gauges will be custom fit into the cluster, and the tachometer will hose clamp onto the steering column.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Jimbo, you will love your VA unit. Had mine charged Friday and took it out today to the Placerville wine country, high 90's to 100 and blew ice cold. Took no time at all to start blowing cold after starting up in a hot cab. The original AC in my truck never worked, so I can't compare to stock, but I really don't think it would be better than this.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Did you put a fan in front of the condenser, or just the regular Vintage Air setup?

Question - does it use a regular factory AC belt?

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Here's the belt I used, Gates, pretty sure 58" I think which is what VA recommended, stock pulleys. Not sure what you mean about fans, I have a stock setup.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Custom voltmeter and temperature gauges are in the instrument cluster. They look good in the daytime, but I wonder how they will look at night with the lights on.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

They look good. Don't forget to take a night pic for us.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Today's progress (so far):

• The dash is all back together and the tachometer is installed
• The Vintage Air controls are installed
• Compressor brackets sandblasted and painted
• Inner fender reinstalled
• Alternator belt reinstalled

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

How does an old work truck not have any tie-down anchors? I fixed that.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Here's that night dash photo. The tach ground is not hooked up yet, and I have to figure out why a few of the LED bulbs aren't working.

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Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

I’ve only briefly messed with my dash lights, most work but not all. From my research it maybe the circuit board that is causing some of the lights to not work. Some of my sockets work and some don’t even after changing the bulbs, knowing the bulbs worked in a different socket. I’m probably gonna order a new circuit board and see if that is the issue.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

It’s all looking good, great job.

Re: '72 Cheyenne K10
 

Compressor install was easy. I really appreciate the previous owner using anti-seize on the exhaust bolts. Now I am on the hunt for a shop with the crimping tools to make the AC hoses.

Can anyone tell me if the main power for the Vintage Air is safe to hook up to the battery side of the American Autowire Megafuse?