Classic Auto Air Perfect Fit Series Air Conditioning Installation

     Since I figured I would almost exclusively be driving this car during the hot summer months I decided to install air conditioning.  There are quite a few options when it comes to air conditioning in a 69 Mustang.  Options range from finding all original parts to complete aftermarket systems.  I opted for an aftermarket system.  I decided on this for a couple of reasons:

1.  To track down all original parts would be expensive and time consuming.
2.  The original pieces would more than likely have to be rebuilt or restored in some way.
3.  Aftermarket systems come with instructions and customer support if you can't figure something
     out.  With original parts you are pretty much on your own.
4.  Aftermarket units look like original parts, but they function like brand new parts complete with a
     warranty.

I decided to go with a system from Classic Auto Air.  It is a complete system that includes everything that you need to complete the installation.  Best of all when you are finished you have a system that looks just like an original factory AC unit looked.  Classic Auto Air provides detailed instructions that are pretty decent.  This page is not intended to be instructions on how to install the unit in your car.  If you want detailed instructions go: http://www.classicautoair.com/manuals/1-1027Manual.pdf.
This page is simply meant to highlight some parts of the install.

The one thing that I did not like about this kit is the new face plate that they supply you.  This is simply meant to stick over your original face plate.  I think that this sticker looks cheap and is also a dead giveaway that this is an aftermarket system.  It is for these reasons that I decided to make my own.

This is what I came up with.  I think that this looks much more authentic than a sticker.  If you are installing this system in your Mustang and would like one of these plates instead of the sticker I manufacture them and they are sold through National Parts Depot.  Please click here for more info on purchasing one.  Please note that I changed the design to look even more authentic.  The picture below shows what the new design looks like.

All of the heater hoses and A/C lines pass neatly through the opening where the heater blower motor used to be.  Classic Auto Air requires you to drill a hole in your firewall just below the blower motor.  This hole coincides with a mounting tag on the new heater box.  BEWARE!  THE TEMPLATE WAS WRONG IN MY INSTRUCTION PACKET.  Make sure that your template is correct before drilling the hole.  My hole location was 1 5/8" off.  You can easily tell if the template is off by cutting it out and laying it on the new heater box.  Center the heater and A/C outlet ports inside the cutout circle of the template and take note of where the mounting tab and the drain holes are located.  If the tab lines up with the template you are good to go.  If not mark the template accordingly and use that mark as a reference as to where to drill the hole.

This is the template that is supplied with the kit.  The 5/8" hole is for the drain.  The smaller hole above and to the right of the 5/8" hole is drilled in the firewall for a bolt that holds the heater box in place, and the 3rd hole to the right of the heater motor hole is intended to help align the template.  As stated earlier these holes did not line up on my car.  Double check before drilling anything.

The following pictures show how the components look when they are installed.

Condenser

Drier

ECU mounting location.  This can be mounted anywhere.  I chose to mount mine on the passenger's side behind the passenger's side dash panel.

Driver's side louver.

Passenger's side louver.

Control Panel

One other minor drawback to the kit is the fact that the supplied center dash louver is not the same size as an original louver for a car that came factory equipped with A/C.  This presented a problem for me because when I ordered a new dash pad for the car I ordered one for a factory A/C car because I didn't want to cut up a brand new dash pad.  I plan on replacing the Classic Auto Air center louver with an original style louver at some point, but for now this is how I solved the problem.

First I cut a piece of Plexiglas where the outside dimension of the piece fit inside of the factory A/C cutout in the dash pad, and the inside cutout would allow the Classic Auto Air louver to slide in to it.  I then cut a piece on vinyl from an old door panel to wrap the piece of Plexiglas in.

Apply contact cement to the vinyl

And to the Plexiglas (Both Sides)

Wrap the vinyl around the Plexiglas

Cut the vinyl along the inside edge of the Plexiglas

Your piece should look like this

Then install the louver into your adapter

Now the louver can be installed into the dash pad.  Mine was a pretty tight fit and would probably have stayed in on its own, but I decided to use some glue dots on it just to be sure.

This is what the finished product looks like.  Not bad, but I think I will still switch it to a factory louver if I can find a decent one.

Another interior view

And here's the finished product.

Compressor mounting location.  One thing that is not included in the kit is new belts.  You have to measure the belts to get the proper fitting ones.  I used a string to get an approximate measurement, and then used trial and error from there.  The problem with using a string is the fact that a belt measurement is actually the measure of the centerline of the belt, and a string measures the inside of the belt.  My belts ended up being 2" larger than my string measurement.  On my application I used a 58515 and a 57515.  That is a 58 1/2" belt 3/8" wide and a 57 1/2" belt 3/8" wide.  Yours may be different, but it should be around that length.