Has anyone run a duct to the back seat for heat and/or AC? I’m installing vintage air in my ‘54 wagon this winter and it would be really nice to heat and cool the back seat. My modern cars have ductwork under the carpet and ducts under the front seat blowing to the rear. Has anyone done something like this in a 50’s car?
A lot of modern SUVs have rear heat/AC. Most of them have a unit complete with a heater core and AC condenser with an adjustable fan speed. Those units have a pair of 3/4" diameter hard lines attached to the vehicle's AC lines (the hard lines I've seen are all mostly aluminum tubing with an insulation cover), and a pair of 3/4" diameter hard lines from the heater hoses that run to the back under the car. It would be easier and more effective to run the hard lines under the car to a rear mounted unit then trying to run duct work. By the time the fan forced the air to the back seat, it is no longer hot nor cold, especially in a wagon. There is a lot of air back there that would need to change the temps, and just duct work won't work very well.
Have a look at 12v equipment cooling fans - like they use on computers. They are available in various sizes, and you can fit them inside ducting, whatever size you chose.
Trying to cob up a stand alone rear HVAC unit is probably approaching a level of difficulty beyond the average DIY. You just can’t “add” an AC evaporator to a system designed for a single evap. You’ll need a larger compressor, and larger condenser to begin with. Simplest would be to add a fan(s) to direct air rearwards. Working in mobile HVAC for over 10 yrs designing systems, the one rule I learned the hard way so to speak is that hot air rises and cold air sinks. Just understanding and taking advantage of this fact can pay dividends. Next would be teeing somehow into the HVAC unit and running ducts under the floor along the trans tunnel and coming up like in modern vehicles at the rear of a centre console. Might need a stronger main blower, or a booster blower for that duct(s) run. Still lots of work.
I have heat/air in our '54 Ranch Wagon and it does a great job in the front seat but the passangers in the backseats do complain on extreemely hot days but to be honest we rarely have anyone in the back. I mounted the 4 vents in the lower part of the dash, I can turn the middle vents up and the back set passangers can feel the air. HRP
What is your 54? Olds, Cadillac and Lincoln all used boot mounted AC in the 1950s. I think Olds and possibly Cadillac had ducts that mounted on the inside of the roof. The usual option nowadays is to have a centre console on the transmission tunnel that feed air to the rear.
That was back in the late 40's and first half of the 50's. When GM, Ford, and Chrysler, used trunk mounted AC units. Now a days everyone mounts the units under the dash.
this is almost exactly what I was planning except I’d like to route a vent to the back seat of my kids.
Thanks for all the great suggestions. The plan is to put the biggest vintage air under dash kit at the front and try to route some of the air to the back seat for my kids. The kit I’m looking at has 4 cold air vents. My thought is I could have 3 dash vents and one along the tunnel under the front seat to the rear seat area. however a fan to circulate air to the back of the car would probably accomplish this easier and cleaner than trying to create custom duct work. A separate rear AC isn’t practical for me.
Modern cars that do it have a duct running under the carpet to the rear, I think the hardest part would just be coming up with a suitable flat duct. Maybe you could scavenge something from a late model car at the salvage yard, or get a piece of PVC pipe, heat it up and squash it. If you have a console it could be run inside that.
I believe a simple fan would move the air around the passenger compartment, that the back seat passengers will feel the effect. The other thing to do, i install a "drop" behind the rear seat, so that you are not trying to condition the air in the storage area. I have plans to make up a clear plastic curtain that would hang from the coat hooks, and isolate the back seat and cargo areas in our wagon.
Look at some of the mini vans, most of them have vents in the back, find a wreck or junk one and dig into the system and try to copy what the manufacture did. Our shop van has some cooling vents in the ceiling for the rear passangers.HRP
Maybe vacuum attachments would have the desired shape outlet and a slip-fit connector to a hose? Just thinking out loud. Whatever you decide, be sure to follow the guidance Ziggster gave. Dumping cold air out at the floor is going to do a great job of cooling off your kids' feet. Those cool transparent '50s rear A/C tubes served the purpose of putting the cold air where it's needed.
I thought today's kids used USB powered personal fans connected to cell phone. https://www.walmart.com/ip/FrSara-Portable-Handheld-Mini-Fan-Neck-Fan-4000mAh-Desk-Fan-180-Adjustable-6-Speed-Wind-Display-Electricity-Real-Time-USB-Rechargeable-Foldable-Fan-Q/3257152637
My wife’s GMC has the vents for the second row seating in the back of the console. I’m thinking if you want bucket seats then build a console and run the a/c ductwork through it and have vents on the back like the GMC has.
Run some ducting to the back seat area from the a/c ducting using a T and a damper to shut the rear area off when it's not needed. Figure out where to mount the rear air ducts. Or have someone sit in the back with a folding fan and a cup of ice.
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