Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:55:18 EDT
Reply-To: JordanVw@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: JordanVw@AOL.COM
Subject: adding a/c - '85 down pass vanagon overhead unit v.s. Behr
in-dash a/c
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
so ive been thinking about adding A/C to my Doka.. there were 2 options i
had in mind.. the Behr In-Dash a/c unit.. which are hard to come by... and
the other was the dealer installed overhead a/c units that were installed on
every '85 down passenger vanagon that had a/c.
i had located a few Behr units - but theyre pretty rare and people usually
know what theyre worth, so they fetch a top dollar..IF you can find them..
for some reason they were more common on the earlier vanagons..
the postitives of the Behr are that theyre great for Westys. you can add
them to any year westy to suppliment the rear a/c you already have, or if your
westy never came with a/c in the first place.. with the Behr in-dash unit,
theres nothing taking up room on the ceiling to bonk your head on, or nothing to
take up valuable overhead cabinet space in the rear. they are contained
totally in the front dash, and blow cold air right on you...not just on your kids
or dog in the rear seat which is all the stock westy a/c does. they are
also pretty much the only a/c option for those who have T3 singlecab pickup
transporters as well..
the negatives, is that you lose most of your glovebox.. and you ave to pull
the whole dash to install it.. but thats a good time to replace your front
heater blower motor which is probably squealing and on its way out as well..
pulling the dash is not a job you want to do twice..
my other concern was the availability of parts, since the behr units were so
rare. the company is still in business (www.behrgroup.com) but i dont know
if they still offer parts for the vanagon unit.
my other choice was the '85 down passenger vanagon overhead a/c unit. this
is the unit that was installed on every '85 down passenger vanagon that was
optioned out with a/c. no '80-'85 vanagons ever had "factory" a/c. the
overhead a/c unit was always installed at the port of entry, or at the dealer.
finding these 85 down pass van a/c units is easy.. i see them alot in
junkyards on passenger vans.. nobody ever bothers to remove them. i have like 4 or
5 of them here. they mount in the overhead part of the cabin, the main
evap./fan assy is right behind your head, with a small tunnel running to the
windshield header, with adjustable vents that blow right on your face.. on the
left, the evap assy is bolted to your B pillar, and on the right it lays on the
sliding door upper track. condesnation drain tubes are fed down thru the B
pillars to holes in the rockers. the switches are contained in the header vent
panel, so no removal or modification to the dash is necessary. the freon
lines run down the left B pillar to the floor, and are covered with trim pieces
provided with the kit.
the positives about the overhead a/c is that its relatively easy to
install..no dash removal.. it blows cold air right on your face, which certainly
cools you down fast...and since these were common on 85 down pass vans, used parts
are relatively easy to find.
the negatives about the overhead front a/c - it takes up valuable interior
room. its not terrible, but i have this unit on my sunroof van and i've
bonked my head on the evap assy quite a few times while passing thru the front
seats into the rear of the van. my Doka is a 6pass non walkthru, with the metal
bulkhead - so there wont be a problem as i cant walk thru to get to the rear
anyway. another negative, is because the evap/blower assy is right behind
your head - its noisy.. and another negative is that its near impossible to
find one of these '85 down overhead a/c units that doesnt have some cracking of
the plastic housing.. the evap housing is notorious for cracking, and the
header vent panel is notorious for cracking where its screwed to the A piller
part of front door header. but then again, its 20-25 year old plastic.. so
you cant expect much.. i've used Devcon brand plastic welder to repair
cracks in the overhead a/c housing/ducting on all vanagons, and have had good
results.
the final negative, which is just by design, is that if you installing the
pass van overhead a/c into a Doka, you must fabricate some sort of steel
bracket to support the evap assy on the passengers side..as Dokas obviously have no
sliding door track to support the evap assy..
and also - this overhead unit doesnt fit well into a westy.. Listmember
frank grunthaner has done it - but it takes some clever mods...you have to make
an extension for the westy poptop latch as the overhead evap assy unit will
cover it up..
that all being said, i have seen a doka that has had the '85 down overhead
unit installed.. so i know its been done..
has anyone else on here with a doka installed the overhead unit into your
truck?
can you send me pics of the passenger side evap assy support bracket you
made?
thanks..
chris
**************************************
AOL now offers free email to everyone.
Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.
