AC Problems Need expert opinions here!

[BFS57]

Hello;
Well, You know how it is, you purchace something that you think will be great just to find out that (years later) after installation it really "sucks"!!
Well, case in point was the Hot Rod Air AC unit I purchased off EBAY, years ago and just now installed in my car (57 Chevy) to find out that it doesn't work worth a good dog poop!!
Took the outside shroud off the fan side of the box to find that there was a very good sized chunk missing on the fan shroud!! (broken off) So we taped it to see and it was better but still not enough volume so next we placed pieces of tape to restrict air flow in each ac vent out put and that helped too! (Bad engineering im thinking)
Here is my delima. Got the car at a shop that is working on a very custom interiour. If I'm not happy with the AC performance, it will be darn hard to replace the unit "down the road!!!
Should I bite the bullet and pop for a Vintage AC box and replace this one and take the present box out and sell it at a swap or try to go with what I have??? The guy at the shop "thinks" my box will be just fine after we modify it.
Your Expert opinions are needed!!

Bruce

[kb426]

Have you tried running voltage directly to the fan to see if it's not getting enough power to it? A pic would be helpful.

[BFS57]

Hello;
The fan seems to be running pretty good. If I deflect the output to the floor output, the darn thing almost blows you out of the car! Then when I divert the air to the top dash outputs the amount of air coming out diminishes!? Don't know if this is deesign or what?
Now, Im thinking that when we discovered the piece missing on the fan housing if maybe that piece may be broken off and inside causing the problem??

Bruce

[enjenjo]

You can reglue the piece, if you find it, with plastic plumbing pipe adhesive

[kb426]

If the Hot Rod unit is like the Vintage air unit, it's made from ABS plastic so abs glue works wonders for repairs and mods.

[348tripower]

Hot Rod Air did put out a pretty good unit. I can't see much of an advantage in chucking that one and going to Vintage Air. I do like Vintage Airs tech and customer service. For me it was excellent on more than one install.  I will stick with them.
Don

[GPster]

Just a few comments. How old is this unit? Is it a R12 unit? Are you running it on R134? Years ago (35 to 40) I got to work on a few after-market A/C  units that the evaporator coil ran so close to freezing that any problem with air flow would have the evaporator coil become a block of ice. You could tell if that was happening because the suction line (the large one) would be frosting clear back to the compressor. Also if you have proper gauges on the lines the scales inside the pressure scale will tell you the temperature. You might be able to pull the in-car unit apart in the car to fix the blower problems with-out loosing the charge. Might also check to see if the bulb for the expansion valve is fastened to the suction line. If it's not then the expansion valve would be wide open all the time. This is mostly from memory because when they figured out R12 wasn't good for the enviroment I had already stopped working with it. GPster

[BFS57]

Hello;
Too late to save the charge! Unit is out of the car. Fixed the hole in the side with ABS Plastic and CA Glue! Am now changing the output vents to have a bit more resistance to create more air flow. My dash in my car is also now "under Construction" as I have added the new VRX Gage pod, New AC vents, too! not using the standard 57 chevy dash pod. Looks and works unbelieveable!! $$$$$$$!
You know, I'v been a tightwad most of the cars' life now I'm paying for it!
Things I got in the past have been replaced because they were lousey, to say the least!
Car will be really nice when finished!

Bruce