Logan Korecky

I bought the truck with no ac at all no vents no compressor nor accumulator. I was wondering if I could take a whole AC system out of a nother gen truck like the 90s model or so forth. If anything's universal let me know.

Steve83

Sure, but the "whole system" includes the ducts inside the dash, and the dash shell with the registers. So you'd have to find ALL those parts in usable condition, and hope they survive the swap from one truck to the other. The dash interchange is '80-86, but with some effort, an '87-91 dash can be made to fit.


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Regardless what dash & ducts you use, you can install everything from under the hood of a '94-96 truck to get factory R134a, which will be easier & cheaper (and work better) than trying to build an R12 system.

But for less than it will probably cost you to do all that, I suspect you could find a newer truck with working A/C.

Logan Korecky

So let's say I use dash and ducts from the same year 1980, as you said everything under the hood I can use from 94-96, now what about the AC control unit inside the cab anyway I could snag one of those from the 94-96 or is there anyway I could use the factory one that's in there

Steve83

The A/C control head is electrically & mechanically COMPATIBLE (not necessarily PnP) from '80-96 (& '97 >8500GVWR), except the '87-early '88 head only works with the corresponding inside HVAC box. So if you want factory A/C, you need a factory A/C control panel.


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I've put an '87 panel in my '83 dash, so I know those can be made to fit.


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But IDK if the '92-96 head will fit the '80-86 dash. It would certainly require a little rewiring - at least to put the later connectors onto the older wiring. It would be easier to use the '80-86 panel to control the later underhood components (just the compressor clutch & recirculate vacuum motor).

NJBronco74

i'm about to do the same. I have a 84 f150 i just picked up with the porno red interior. and I'm getting a 1990 f250 delivered to my house from the wrecking yard that has a mint grey interior. so I plan on swapping the a/c as well as the whole dash. You said a little effort to swap the bricknose dash to the bullnose. what exactly is that little work? from what ive been able to kind of find online it was something to do with brackets? do I need to cut something off the firewall and weld or bolt on? I would mind leaving the red dash but i'm not excited to paint it and figure out how to run the ducts. seems easier to just swap the whole thing. Trucks going to end up with a 99-01 explorer 5.0 motor and fuel injection in it as well so the gauge cluster is easier to work out with the newer ecu.

Steve83

I couldn't guess exactly how you're going to build it, so I can't say exactly what you'll have to do. But having the 2 trucks side-by-side will make it pretty easy for you to figure out, as you make decisions on what you want. I don't think welding will be necessary, but the ducts must stay with the dash shell - you can't mix them.

The ultra-rare 1991 Silver Anniversary Edition Bronco had a mixture of red & gray interior parts, so you might try for that style.

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The instrument cluster isn't connected to the EEC, other than the CEL (which your truck may not even have yet). This & the NEXT pic show what I did:

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NJBronco74

well thats interesting. did the speedo just drop right in the cluster? I'm stuck with wanted the truck to be blue outisde, so the red interior isn't growing on me. But the 89 250 is grey but not original. So do I want to paint and add vents and carp, or just swap everything and be done. ugghh.


Back to the threads topic. So the air boxs will bolt right to the firewall? just have to maybe cut the large center hole for the condensor?

Steve83

The cluster shell had to be carved to fit the PSOM, but that was only necessary because of the rear axle swap - not the EFI. This & the NEXT few show the A/C firewall, which became standard after some point:

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If your truck has the non-A/C firewall holes, THAT may require welding to change. I can't remember how they're laid out relative to the A/C holes, but I think there was a thread about it active a few months ago on http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/ .

ssg11b71

Im trying to find door panels in that porno red interior without busting the bank. You selling any parts ?