Ford Mustang Vintage Air's High-Tech Gen IV Climate Control Installation

This is the air conditioning's refrigeration expansion valve. Always use wrenches on both sides to prevent damage.

Vintage Air supplies o-rings for refrigeration lines, which are green in color. Lube these seals with refrigeration oil right before installation. Seal lubricant must be compatible with the lubrication oil used in the system.....

....You can purchase R-134a compatible refrigeration oil at any refrigeration supply house. Take care not to pinch or damage the seals. Do not overtighten fittings.

Front brackets are bolted to the air handler and the unit is ready for installation.

Using the previously drilled firewall holes, the unit is mounted and secured. It's always good to have a helper on the other side of the firewall to help guide the unit in place.

We like how Vintage Air incorporates as much of the Mustang's original passages as possible to minimize cutting and drilling. Heater hose lines penetrate the firewall in exactly the same spot as factory equipment.

The firewall cover plate is prepped with RTV for proper sealing; then it's retained with sheetmetal screws. There are three passages-two for refrigeration lines and one for the compressor clutch lead and hot water solenoid. All are protected with rubber grommets.

The installed air handler should look like this.

This is the installed firewall transition plate. We suggest the use of sheetmetal screws like Ford used, which are secured using a 3/8-inch wrench instead of a common cross-slot screwdriver. Either way, you get a professional look. The hot water valve will be located at the top heater hose position. Our '70 Mustang isn't far enough along yet for heater control valve installation.

The installed Superflow condenser with dryer should look like this. Again, use refrigeration lubricant on those green o-rings and don't overtighten. The condenser and receiver fit perfectly. We're using the factory air-conditioning line passages, which means no modifications or cutting. You can paint or powdercoat the lines to make this package virtually invisible through your grille.

You're going to need the help of a good hydraulic or air-conditioning shop for hose cutting and swaging at the line ends. Measure carefully and give line routing a lot of thought before cutting. Keep it as streamlined as possible. We're using the Ford compressor for this installation because we have a factory 5.0L SEFI engine package, which calls for different fittings than a typical Sanden aftermarket compressor.

This is what you want-a clean, streamlined installation where lines run parallel wherever possible. This is the high-side service port for R-134a refrigerant.

Underdash electrics and defroster hoses are secured. It's a good idea to use conduit to protect wiring along with zip ties.

The SureFit GEN IV system is circuit-breaker protected and should get its power from a switched source-ignition "on" only.

Vintage Air eliminates the Mustang's heater control cables and fascia. Instead, a fresh Vintage Air fascia and variable resistor switches run the GEN IV system.

Here are the variable resistance switches (also called rheostats or potentiometers) installed in place of the original control cables.....

....Vintage Air calls them cable converters. They provide easy slide effort without the sound of hissing vacuum servos and switches.

The cool thing about the GEN IV system is adaptability to your Mustang's factory air-conditioning outlets. No one knows it's back there but you until they feel the cold air.