Technical Vintage Air install hack... A "dummy-drier"...

While installing my Vintage Air Gen II A/C unit in my 1952 Chevy pickup I always worried about mocking up the condenser and installing the drier. The drier is filled with silica to absorb moisture and it arrives from the factory with both in and out connections sealed with rubber caps held on by threaded caps. The drier is also pressurized with nitrogen. As soon as you open the threaded ends, the nitrogen escapes and the silica starts doing its job absorbing moisture from the air.

Here is a comparison of the drier and the "dummy-drier".



My truck project as been years in the making so I really didn't know when the A/C system would eventually be charged up and tested. Still, I needed to know where everything would fit for final assembly so my solution was to machine a "dummy-drier" out of aluminum billet... Now I could set up the system without using the drier.



I found some 1" round aluminum rod I had in stock to machine my "dummy-drier". I arbitrarily chose 2 1/2" length visually because I didn't want to remove the caps to release the drier's nitrogen. I had an end nut that wasn't on a tube so I measured the internal threads to be 5/8-18 NFT. I machined both ends down to 5/8" and threaded the ends, then drilled both ends 11/32" x 3/8" deep to accept the tube ends.



Took me about 1/2 hour to machine, I think it worked out pretty well don't you think?

 

that is pretty slick.

 

Great fore thought, certainly better than getting into the unknown soaking up all those beautiful Canadian lakes when a project could potentially get delayed, not sure if even a zip lock bag would give enough protection. good idea!

 

VintageAir should sell these. Great idea!

 

Genius! Great fore thought. You could sell these on here, I would buy one!

 

Well crafted! I bragged about a fixture I built to support a Buick transmission to a buddy, who said "we get smarter the older we get" Merely the mechanoid personality traits dominating. Nothing in comparison to your piece however. Whip up a few, I 'd bet they sell.

 

I told Vintage Air they could have these molded in plastic for pennies and include one in each kit. Also told them I was putting it out there in public domain for them to use as they pleased.

Vintage Air came back telling me that most install shops have extra compressors and drier and my reply was that hot rodders didn't have that luxury and would appreciate the "dummy-drier".

I'll be curious to see if they eventually produce them.

 

That’s very clever, but curious as to what you did for the compressor as they are sealed as well.

 

Plastic ones are a great idea; sort of like the plastic shaft that comes with a clutch disc used for installation.