If he does, I hope this thread doesn't become a pissing contest! I've seen that happen, and while some seem to enjoy getting two competitors going at each other, I don't!
For what it's worth,,information is a good thing,it helps us all with making a educated and informed plan of attack when making a purchase. I'm sure all partys selling air conditioners know what they are selling and have had good sucess and a few failures along they way,,,what don't kill ya makes ya stronger! No need to become a pissin' match,HRP
There seems to information coming forth. Right, wrong, or indifferent information is information. The knowledge shared cant hurt
I agree, knowledge is good, and sometimes arguments, but not all! Both companies seem to sell good products, and have been in business long enough that if they weren't good they wouldn't be selling. I really don't see much advantage of one over the other. The SA mini seems to be a bit more compact than the VA, but if you don't have to worry about a few more cubic inches it's pretty much tit for tat. Some models have more features, etc., so just get what suits your needs. If it comes down to who you like better for whatever reason, well, that's your choice. It's good that we HAVE a choice!
I have a classic auto air daily driver setup in my o/t mustang and it works very well. They also gave me custom length hoses and lots of troubleshooting time on the phone till I found all the problems with the existing parts (factory ac car) and fixed them. They also sell a trunk mount kit.
I was thinking the same thing as I was reading the thread. I would also crank open the winshield. I get crap because my wheels are not traditional so whats up with a/c in a coupe? That also sounds real traditional
Did a air car for the first time in 2002 from southern air. Pretty sad when i called customer support and i knew more about the product then they did. I would go with somone else unless you enjoy beating your head against the wall.
That is the exact opposite of my dealing with them. As far as I'm concerned they can take a long walk off of a short pier.
If you can read and follow instructions and have an "experienced" person with guages and a vacumn pump to charge the system properly and you know the difference between a hot wire and a ground wire then you will not have a problem and Southern Air or anyone else can not do all that for you over the phone. Example we are at the street rod Nationals in Louisville now, a customer called us ahead of time with a huge problem , every time he turned on his rear,trunk style, ac unit we sold him, on which is a truck and has a big sleeper, it blows a fuse and of course our unit is Bad well one of our guys went over to the truck took 5 minutes tracing the wires and guess what? The wire that is to plug into the compressor from the temp switch was to ground....it's a hot wire when you turn the unit on to run the compressor clutch. We can't be there with you when you install it but most problems are this simple but we are not there and can't see how it's plumbed or wired you just have to use your head and get help from an experienced person. If we were not here to ck out that truck then we would be the ass of the year for selling them a bad unit not the "Expert" they paid to install it. This is my last post on this hope I have helped you understand a little better and any questions or problems the email address' are on here so if you have a problem just bitchn doesn't fix it.
I usually dont say anything bad about anybody on here, but southern rods sucks. Bought some of their cheap chinese knock off parts at meets, and ended up not happy. These guys copy everybodies innovative parts, make them in china and sell their junk cheaper the the originals. This discourages companies from spending the time and money to develop new stuff, knowing these jerks will buy one, ship it to china, and sell it cheaper.I tried to return a part for credit, mailed it back as they said, but never saw the credit to my charge card they promised. Called repeatedly and got the run around for two weeks. Finally had to deal with my credit card company to stop pay.These guys sell cinese junk and have zero customer support. Im amazed they are still in business. Just my opinion.Buy USA if at all posible. P.S., Vintage Air is a great company with great tech support. Got their stuff in my 32 sedan.
Here is a news flash for ya!!! 90% of the stuff out there is made in China!!! trust me, I worked for a large brake and suspension company that all they did were Classic Trucks, Muscle Cars and Hotrods...We would get pallets of Balljoint, Tie Rod Ends, Rotors, Boosters, Master Cylinders, Calipers and Bearings...Yup all China! Did it work yes! have I used it yes. I called Southern Air this week and had some questions about a unit, they are cheaper than V/A, they answered my questions and the price was right! I will be buying a Southern Air unit for my car next week. YES made in the USA is the way to go, but sometimes we have no choice!!!!
Greg,,this has what to do with air conditioning? You don't say anything bad huh?,,sounds like you have had problems with Southern Rods,,, Tom posted his personal E-mail,,there is no reason why you don't send him one and tell the ,,as you put it"JERK",,just how you feel about his business,, HRP
Firast I want to thank all of you guys that came to our booth and told me how much you all enjoyed this thread and how much you learned about the AC manufactuering and how it is not the Rocket science that some would lead you to believe but a lot of common sense. You to Randy and AL thanks for dropping by. As for the China crack our AC is made in Ft Worth Texas and last time I checked it was a long haul from Hong Cong although the section of the country this accuser comes from is a Union hot bed and I understand the USA vs China thing but the fact are when our government starting pushing International trade they never expected that China would produce so much so at such a reduced rate and that the Unions would never relent and USA Manufacuers kept raiseing their prices until we're in the mess we're in now but it is coming back around somewhat as the manufacturers are looking for work and dealing now. Our new wiper systems,that were in new products, are all USA infact made intirely in Greenville SC. As for this Greg with the complaint..if I knew his last name I'd pull him up in the computer and get the whole story as he is very sketchie like how long did he have it,did he modify it and so on. Again my email is on here. I'm home early from Louisville because my Daughter graduated from Clemson yesterday and couldn't miss that but I can tell you there were tons of cars and tons of people. I'm starting a new thread that I would like to see short comments RE: 30 year NSRA rule starting in 2010. Thanks again
FWIW I'm installing an underdash unit and it's not rocket science(bought it from another hamber) autozone is your friend, believe it or not, you can get loan-a-tool guages and vacuum pump for freeeee 5 day rental , which should fix you up. Also they sell a DVD on air conditioning for $8, its near the other A/C supplies, and I was surprised, it's really fantastic, I've been recommending it to a lot of people. Good luck.
Just got back from Louisville so I had to catch up on this thread. My first post on this was in response to the question of why Vintage Air systems are a little more in cost than Southern Air and others. I simply suggested asking good questions of each manufacturer. I don't like flame threads either but there are just too many "inaccuracies" here. The management at VA won't respond here because they are confident in their products and don't want to come across as defensive - but accuracy of information is my job. Southern Air systems - made by another company in Ft. Worth (per Tom) Hot Rod Air - made by another company in Ft. Worth Custom Auto Air - made by another company in Ft. Worth (So they're all using the leading company in RV systems?) In other words all these guys have is a warehouse full of boxes from another company. The RV a/c company may have a few engineers and may even be ISO Certified, but SA is a warehouse. SA did offer an "electric" system in '98. But an electric on-off heater valve is not the same as a programmable electronic variable-position servo system. Servos are the method used by every OEM in the world because they allow infinate adjustments in air and heat blending and air flow blending. The circuitry and programming of the control panels is critical to optimum performance of these systems - all of which are engineered in-house at VA. Other accuracy points: Vintage air manufactures their own cooling and heater coils in-house. Vintage Air machines their own brackets, including the Front Runner systems in-house. Vintage Air manufactures their own control panels in-house. Vintage Air manufactures their cast aluminum components in-house. Vintage Air has invested in over 50,000 square feet of actual machinery and R&D. And they even feature photos of their plant in the ads and catalogs for everyone to see - even your SA budies ;-0 And yes, VA has over 500 dealers world wide, so they do spread the income out to the small shops and installers that are our friends and neighbors. Bottom line: Do want to buy from the people who designed, manufactured and tested it? Or from a guy who takes a box off the self from "another company"? The point was, why good stuff may cost a little more. Stop bitching about how bad Chinese stuff is or how America is losing it's manufacturing lead and support a company that is actually showing leadership and re-investing in their people, their dealers and in product innovation.
I am so sorry I missed you in Louisville and we could have shown you how wrong you are and still waiting for your visit to our facility. "Servo" they call it we call it a fully adjustable motor that uses a precise control switch that will move it .001 or one inch so if you don't know the facts don't make them up or listen to some idol of your that lies. We've had that since 98 and I got the idea from OEM and VA copied it ...that's fact end of story on that. Our 4 way,now 3 way, fully adjustable water valve has always been electrically adjustable from .001 to open or any where in between so again if you would have looked in new products every year since 98 this would have been apparent. OH Hot Rod air is made in San Antonio another error,Ck out Custom also you missed another one. If you love VA that's great but they obviously have some kind of hold on you. RV? Let's see you wanted to know what other avenues we travel I told you and believe me an RV is harder to cool than a A Model coupe. Like I've stated we made the "Fully" adjustable water valves and unit operation 3 or more years before your heros FACT. If that eats at you when you go to bed at night......fine......Pleasant dreams. We try to give every single customer the best product for the best price and refuse to price our product into the moon just to say we have a lot in it because of R and D, we also make 10 different billet brackets but offer Alan Grove steel bkts as standard equipment with every kit just like they do but we don't make a front runner "Yet" but when it comes,shortly, it will be all Chrome because you have to work you ass off to keep those over priced things polished. All the companies you mentioned have good units so the buyer can make his or her own mind up.
Well, I haven't used either product-in fact, I took the A/C out of my A coupe-just too much "stuff" muddling up the cool engine parts and crowding up the dash.(But, I don't live in Texas,either.) That being said, I just don't like the attitude or writing style of SRP707-it's everybody else's fault, they make good stuff but it's copied from mine,etc.Their product might be a great,US made one and a great price-but I wouldn't buy it if the posts on here are their caring and compassionate "before the sale" attitude. And FWIW, I bought a take-out VA heating unit from a fellow HAMBer and needed some parts and advice from VA and they were extremely helpful.
We make these in house 18.00 and 31.00 your choice. If you own a company you just don't sit idlely by and let some one try to defame it. Our units are all USA end of story. These indicaters ane in stock. Thanks
Anyone have any installed pics of their Southern Air Under Dash Mustang Unit? I'm Thinking about using this in my f100... since it looks like a factory 65 f100 ac.
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