ZBuilds

Hey everyone, I know this isn't really the correct place to put it, but I see more support, generally, for the f-150 than I do a Bronco, so i'm just gonna kind of shoot my shot here

So, I have an 83 Bronco, but the Bronco was just the SUV version of the F-150 I've come to gather
However, my questions comes out to, did the base model have any blower motors/fans, or A/C lines/condenser running to the inside of the truck, just behind the glovebox

Because I noticed that the previous owner was trying to put in aftermarket A/C, which didn't come with this one.

For reference, I guess, the truck is a 4.9L Base XLT, manual 3 Speed w/ overdrive, and also has a manual transfer case

Thank you!

wde3477

Welcome to the site!

The Bronco was originally its own thing with unique body style up until the mid-70s, when yes, it became the super-short bed with topper and rear seats version of the F100/F150 that most know.

IIRC, the XLT was the premium trim package at that time, with the base model being something like Custom. Would've thought the premium trim levels got A/C as part of the trim package, but they do some weird things for vehicles intended for the extreme northern US and Canada.

Not knowing what the previous owner did, suggest one easy way to tell whether the truck originally came with A/C is to look at the HVAC selector. If it has only Off-Heat-Defrost, or nothing indicating A/C, then no factory A/C. Don't know that the non-A/C models had dash vents either, but it's been a few years and memory fades.

If the truck didn't come from the factory with A/C, it would've had the blower motor for the heater, but no Freon lines, compressor, condenser in front of the radiator, evaporator at the firewall, etc.

Hope this helps...

ZBuilds

Hey, that does help, however I think they did some tinkering because we did find out that the witing and installation was kind of, messy and half done.

Me and my dad figured out that there were 2 blower motors, one inside the cabin for A/C and one outside for heat. The fan for the heat wasn't grounded properly because they hacked away and spliced various wires to put in an aftermarket a/c. We think it was built for up north, since it technically only had heat, and I guess they got a different vent selector module for heat and air as it had heat and air. It was a mess under the dash.

But thank you for the response!

Steve83

The early 80s trucks (Fs & Broncos) were built differently for non-A/C. At some point (IDK exactly when), all trucks got the same A/C-compatible firewall, with 3 large rectangular holes on the passenger side: fresh air from the cowl, recirc. air from the passenger footwell, and blown air going into the cab. This pic shows them in that order (L-to-R):

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My '83 Bronco Custom (low trim) originally had all 3, but it had factory A/C.

(phone app link)


If yours doesn't, it's relatively easy to cut that section of firewall from a JY truck, trim up the edges, cut out your truck's slightly smaller than the patch, align the patch, seam-seal it on, and then screw or rivet it on. When the seam sealer dries, it'll be almost identical to a factory A/C firewall. This shows a quick, easy way to cut sheet metal:

(phone app link)


This shows how to use seam sealer:

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This & the NEXT one show how to rivet a patch panel on (using JBWeld instead of seam sealer):

(phone app link)