Has anyone installed an air conditioner in a 55-56 Ford Fairlane that can give me some pointers ? I'm looking at "the perfect fit" from classic auto air but I'm guessing that I'll have to find a 2 groove crank pulley to pull it off. The engine is a 292 with a 12 volt generator, single groove crank and water pump pulleys.
They got a real good a/c unit. You will like the cool next summer and the heat this winter. They have a assembly and warehouse building in Ft. Worth.
The two groove pulleys shouldn't be that hard to find. If I was going to to the install I think I would hunt down the pulleys before I bought the kit. Someone on here might even have a set laying around or have a set and be wanting a set of single groove pulleys to clean up an engine that is going to be out in the open without a hood or side panels.
I just put A/C on a 56 Ford a few weeks ago. The Classic Auto Air set up works well, but it takes a good amount of mock up and you need to arrange the spacers, and there are a bunch. You might also need to switch over to a GM alternator, since the brackets have a GM mount built in. Really a trick, clean setup that hides the compressor down under the motor/alternator. You can run a single belt even though the compressor has 2 grooves. The dual belt balancers on the y block like those that came off of a truck are useless since the front groove is frickin huge for some other kind of belt. Certainly not a standard v belt, and the belt wouldn't run true to the 2nd compressor pulley. If you're utilizing the front stabilizer mount, you will need to grind off a bit of the side of it since it interferes with the lower bracket. Also, one of the bolt heads for the upper bracket was rubbing the water pump pulley. I sanded down the head of the bolt and all was well. Not a totally easy install, but it does fit nicely and look good.
Joe is right, he did the car in my shop...though I believe the A/C mounts we used, might have been either optional, or from a different company. It was made to mount a Sanden (Sanyo) compressor, and a GM alternator. The kit may have come with just a plain compressor mount. Other than that, it's a good kit. Nice block-off plate, thick steel, comes with it to cover the old heater box hole, bolts on, but I wound up welding and smoothing it out. The kit also converts the factory heater controls to work the Heat/AC/defrost, so you don't have a modern looking control unit to stare at, or hide somewhere! Also came with some pre-bent hardlines, and partially assembled hoses. One side the fitting was crimped, the other was left a bit long, and the fitting wasn't put on, so you can fine tune the length and angle, if necessary. I'd recommend it to anyone.
Just know that if you use this system, your stock radio will not fit. It’s too deep, something Classic Auto Air neglects to tell you until after you buy their system. And the only way you find out is when you read your paid invoice. It’s on there. That’s it!
I wish Joe and chopolds would have sent in a photo to Classic showing the engine parts installed. They show in on a later model 289-302 engine on their site.
Did a 57 Fairlane , not a 56. It had a 312 and changed over to a Ford alternator and kept the external regulator to keep the dash idiot light. The alternator mounted on top and the compressor swung underneath. Used and original under dash unit and it would put frost on the carpet. It kept the car colder than my ex wife's heart .
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