Projects *AC or No AC*

IF MAMMA AIN'T HAPPY, NOBODY'S HAPPY.

 

I love being able to do something that makes my beautiful woman happy. If she wants AC, she's getting it.

Speaking of which, there's nothing like a smile on her face on an hour long drive in 97 degree, 99% humidity as I switch on the AC.


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After 44 years of marital bliss, I say "Happy Wife, Happy Life".
My wife no longer goes to car events unless she takes her OT car with all its amenities!
By the way, She bought me the '32 for my 62nd birthday!
KK

 

The ONLY person whose opinion matters has already expressed hers. Ignore it at your peril.

Ray

 

There you go, put a ribbon on it, make it purdy, she'll love it.

 

now there is a manly man answer that ain't afraid of nutin' - especially his wife. maybe get a mattress and put in bed of truck so that it will be a little more comfortable for you to sleep in

 

Well we celebrate our 46th anniversary next month and Jean and I have been going to rod runs/car shows together since 1973 when we took the 48 to it's first event.
Over the years she has earned her ride in the hot rod or custom with no ac and at times no windows or top creds times over.
For me putting AC in the 48 means that I can drive 5 or 600 miles a day headed somewhere and get out and not be so damned tired I can't function. That may not seem like much to a 30 or 40 year old but at 70 the heat can wear on you and the cold makes things just as miserable. I intend to go and go a lot when the truck is done and when the Model A is done and both will get ac. I could give a rats ass if someone doesn't like the looks of the compressor on my engine or the vents sticking out from under the dash. I don't like the looks of the truck with the hood gapping open anyhow and unless required by the event I don't leave it open.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion on this one but don't belittle or knock someone's rig because he does decide to run AC. Not giving it your clubs best traditional rod or Custom because you don't think the AC is proper period correct is ok but badmouthing the car or owner because it has AC isn't.

 

I vote YES on the A/C !

 

Happy wife = happy life!

 

I say go with the ac especially if it will make cruising a family event! Not knocking you pickup in any way so don't be offend because in the picture it is one sharp looking rod but you already have a later engine and later style wheels so in my opinion adding ac will not detract anything from the style and theme. If it was a historical hotrod or even an earlier theme then that might be a different story but since it sounds like you use it for cruising with your wife then might as well make it nice to cruise around in. Just my opinion.

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FWIW, Evansville is on the Ohio River, western Indiana. The heat and humidity is a lot like Arkansas.
If the windshield or cowl vent is not functioning, you will wish on assistance.
I would say it sound like you're trying to make the truck more critter comfortable, so I would put serious consideration in A/C.
My A doesn't have A/C, but the windshield still opens as stock, and all side windows open, and my car is also painted a light gray. I'm in the Little Rock area, so I can tell you about the type of heat and humidity we have here. And I had been to Evansville during the summer many times when I was young.

 

Put in the A/C. If it makes your wife happy and she has a better time going to cruises, you will keep her involved in your passion for old cars. If not, you may not have a hot rod in the future. Hot, humid weather in the Midwest in the summer is no fun at all. I have A/C in my '32 pickup and am finishing up the installation in the '32 Fordor, and will be putting a Vintage Air unit in my '56 Chevy Handyman wagon before the year is out. Even though we don't get over a 100 degrees or have any humidity in the summer here in Prescott and it really cools down at night, there are those times when you are sitting in traffic or at a red light when it gets pretty hot, so I really enjoy sitting there in cool comfort. Adding a compressor doesn't detract from a nice engine appearance as long as you do it right. I use hard lines whenever possible and keep the rubber hoses short and to a minimum. Self bendable hard lines are available from Vintage Air and really clean up the looks, and now small diameter hoses are available that help too. Do it right, and it will look right.

 

Hot Rods don't A/C, cup holders or any of that "soft stuff". So, it'll be a Street Rod", instead of a "Hot Rod". If that's what you want, go for it. Or, build a cruiser with A/C.

 

AC for sure, my wife even bought the sign for me, it's on our fireplace, "Happy Wife, Happy Life"

 

I've been thinking about what those electric cars do to run the compressor with no crankshaft to turn it. Maybe the have a self contained unit ( like a house window a/c) that run off a dc motor or use a house unit powered by an inverter. I haven't researched this yet; I have enough to do at the moment.
If something like that exists, I have room behind my seat.

 

I hear what you guys are saying so before I have to throw a mattress in the back of the pickup I should check into just what all is needed to add the AC and if it's something I can do. Are there after market Compressor brackets for a 350 sbc I can buy? I have the double hump heads so there are no holes drilled and tapped on the front of the heads.

 

Hello,
This is the age old question, but there is only one answer. A/C rules. My wife likes cars and how they feel when on the road. When we got our 2nd 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, after missing out on a 46 SBC woody, she said that sedan delivery rules over the woody. Why? The woody had the "surfy" feel, but lacked A/C. In So Ccal, it is fairly mild most of the year, but since that 2nd sedan delivery had A/C, we took it everywhere and she loved driving it around.

For some reason the year we got the 40 sedan delivery, there were a rash of weddings and for each one, being all dressed up, that cool feeling inside made the trip rather nice. There would be no hot rod without A/C.

In our younger years, the vents were just fine, but we wished we had the money to order A/C in those cars. 125k miles in the 65 red El Camino out to the Mojave Desert, Colorado River, Mexico, Nor Cal and all over So Cal was fun, but with no air, a little miserable. We always arrived with that "windblown" look that was in style...Ha ! It was always a definite open vents, down windows kind of drive.

Jnaki
Today, no air /no car... The final word... by the Queen...besides who cares if it robs horsepower from the motor with all of those extra belts and pulleys...that is what 300 HP is used to overcome.

 

What do they say; happy wife, happy life?

 

Alan Grove makes some a/c and alternator brackets for your SBC application. Ball's Hot Rods make some sexier ones at a higher price. I'm sure many others are around. Pulleys are readily available too.
Yes, it takes away from the hotrod look, and is part of why I didn't put a/c in my car. $$$ too. It's hard to have three deuces, double hump heads, and a sexy a/c compressor on a Model A skinny frame.

 

35 years and I bought my wife a 28 Roadster, but she is a heat and sun lover.
And we only have 'dry' heat,,, yea this weekend over 100 degrees
And me? I'm the one that needs AC, I melt after 87 degrees cause of my meds

 

Yes, there are a couple of companies that will sell you everything you need to do the job. Some kits will even come with neon ground lighting and Betty Boop floor mats for your street rod. Just kiddin, i'd do ac also.

 

Get rid of the 4:11 gears, go on longer trips, enjoy your new A/C. Earlier today I finished up installing AC on the woodie in anticipation of driving it to San Diego in a couple of months. I'm old enough to want to enjoy the drive not just survive it.

 

Why would anyone want to sweat their ass off? Would you buy a daily driver without A/C? I don't build cars without A/C.

Gary

 

Man, you're asking other people to deal with your wife. You don't do that. It's your marriage, you deal with it. You're the only one married to her.

Unless of course you are hiding behind her in order to see if a bunch of men will call you a pussy for putting in A/C because it's really you who wants it. In which case, that's lame too.

 

Says someone who has a '23 T Bucket in progress and a 2006 Ford Taurus. As someone who has put over 55,000 miles in a Deuce roadster, from sub-zero temps in South Dakota, to snow in the Black Hills, and 115 degrees in the Mojave Desert with my wife beside me for every mile, I say whatever you do to make the drive more fun, makes the "hot rod" versus "street rod" labeling bullshit. If you keep your wife happy, your next hot rod might be a traditional roadster!

The "Road To The Sun" in Glacier National Park in our "street rod" '32 pickup.

Hills City, South Dakota in May

The Colorado Rockies

115 degrees near Oatman, Arizona

 

A/C mounts for a short water pump and using the water pump bolts and intake bolts.
Here it is made from plate steel about a half day project .

 

Careful shopping and careful selection of parts you can make them quite small in the cab.
I am looking at doing a friends 39 pickup with a flathead. Stays hot a lot longer down here in Florida.
Midwest summers can be brutally hot and humid.

 

I just hope to someday get to a point in my world's slowest build that I must decide the a/c issue. I'm leaning against it, since my wife isn't interested in cruising, and I don't want a condenser in front of the radiator on a Model AA. Also, most cruise nights locally mean a 15-minute drive to town, parking for 3-4 hours and sitting in the heat and humidity in the shade if I'm lucky. By the drive home, I'm already sticky, stinky and tired, so a/c would only be temporary and the cost/benefit just wouldn't justify it. I do like the fresh air coming in through a fully opened windshield.

 

[QUOTE- As someone who has put over 55,000 miles in a Deuce roadster, from sub-zero temps in South Dakota, to snow in the Black Hills, and 115 degrees in the Mojave Desert with my wife beside me for every mile, I say whatever you do to make the drive more fun, makes the "hot rod" versus "street rod" labeling bullshit. QUOTE]

I couldn't agree more.............

Ray

 

this old fart likes AC