Vintage Air Gen II mini evaporator installation with stock dash controls

[jalexquijano]

Does anyone have photos on how they install a Vintage Air Gen II mini kit with Sanden 508 Compressor to their 240z? I would like to keep it as stock as posible. I guess i wont need the original blower fan which is located under the dashboard at the passenger´s side.  Photos will really help!!!

[djwarner]

I installed mine in the original heater box location. Being in Florida, I wanted to keep the fresh air vent and came up with this. I added a box to act as a spacer to align the fan under the air vent and took lever parts from the old cable assembly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jalexquijano]

I installed mine in the original heater box location. Being in Florida, I wanted to keep the fresh air vent and came up with this. I added a box to act as a spacer to align the fan under the air vent and took lever parts from the old cable assembly.

 

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What if i use the ARA air conditioner kit controller? Will it work with a Vintage Air Gen II mini kit and Sanden 508 compressor and hence i wont have to modify the heater control panel?

Edited September 2, 2015 by jalexquijano

[djwarner]

The ARA unit has a Thermostat control knob and a power switch. The OEM Fan Control switch has a blue wire that ports 12 volts to the ARA switch when the Fan switch is turned to any position but OFF. The Vintage Air unit has separate controls for heat and AC operation. It relies on the AC thermostat to control power to the compressor.

 

The Vintage Air Gen II Mini unit has four control inputs:

 

1. Power/fan switch which can be mounted in place of the OEM switch.

2. An AC thermostat that could be mounted in place of the ARA thermostat.

3. A heater control potentiometer.  A standard rotary potentiometer could be mounted in the switch position on the ARA panel or a linear resistor mounted to work with the middle control lever.

4. Finally, the problem of the lot, the mode switch.

 

The mode switch performs the functions of the control levers but with some differences:

 

The lowest lever diverts output from the room to the defrost vents. In the Vintage Air unit, a 12 volt signal is sent from the mode switch to the control module in the air handler.

 

The middle lever can be connected to a linear potentiometer to operate the heater. A signal from the potentiometer is sent to the control module. The control module operates the heater control servo to proportionally open the control valve.

 

The OEM top lever has two control wires. One operates a door on the fan housing to source air to the fan from the fresh air vent or from the room. The other lever allows a mix of output air to the dash vents or floor vents. The Vintage Air unit is designed to only source air from the room. The Vintage Air mode switch has positions tells the control module to direct air to the floor vent, dash vent or both. I don't know how you would convert the Vintage Air Lever Control module as I have no experience with it.

[jalexquijano]

Well this does not answer my Question! I was thinking on purchasing this ARA control module to control the Vintage Gen Air II mini evaporator and Sanden Compressor. If you think this will not work, i will need to source for another controller.

[djwarner]

The ARA controller is NOT plug-in compatible. It will do some functions but not all required.

 

It could be used to provide a panel space for additional controls, but additional engineering would be required.

[jalexquijano]

Well i guess i will only be able to use the controls provided by Vintage Air for the Gen II mini evaporator. I really do not want to alter the Heater control panel what options are there left for me? Any pictures of conversions done by someone in this fórum?

[jalexquijano]

I installed mine in the original heater box location. Being in Florida, I wanted to keep the fresh air vent and came up with this. I added a box to act as a spacer to align the fan under the air vent and took lever parts from the old cable assembly.

 

IMG_0442.JPG

 

IMG_0483.JPG

 

IMG_0443.JPG

 

IMG_0429.JPG

 

IMG_0427.JPG

 

Djwarner,

 

I have read a lot of opinions on using the original heater panel controls to actívate the AC evaporator and compressor and it seems that it was not designed to actívate any ac evaporator and compressor system. However there is an under dash option which picture i have attached here: Vintage Air 49200-RHA Gen II Under Dash Control Panel.

 

Do you think this is the way to go and forget about doing any modification to the panel?

[djwarner]

Electrically, it is isentical to the unit I used and is a viable alternative if you do not want to cut the OEM panel.

[jalexquijano]

where exactly in the dashboard do i fix it? will i need to drill any holes to the dashboard? both these controls and the dashboard are made of plastic! which is the most appropiate way to secure these controls? any pictures?

[djwarner]

If I were you, I would mount it on the side of the center console like the ARA control. Just make it within easy reach from your driver's position.