Ok, I've done some searching with no luck. I know I've seen at least one on here before but can't find it, a Vintage Air unit. Who has used one or who decided against one? Which unit? Fit? Would you have done a different Vintage Air unit? I have no issue giving up the glove box, I'll even do a dash that's not cut for one. Gen 2? Gen 4? Mini, Compaq, Super or Magnum? I would like enough capability to cool and heat the entire vehicle if a full hard top was ever used. Which controls did you choose? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
What an awesome build & the biggest Military toys !!!
I put the Vintage Air compaq behind a Tuffy glove box.
Supported the front of unit with plastic rivet nuts and corresponding holes thru back of Tuffy box.
It barely fits, can't use factory location for antenna.
It cools really good and the dehumidified defrost is nice feature.
Used Vintage air airplane style louvers cut into dash.
One thing to keep a eye on, keep in mind (at least on the compac) the heater core and the a/c lines face the passenger side and take up some space to make the turn to go under the battery tray. If the magnum exits the same way you may have problems running the line. My unit is right up to the gas pedal so theirs no room to move to the drivers side. If I remember there's around 12 to 13 inches to make the bend for the lines. Also the lines run side by side so it was a little tight screwing the a/c lines on as well as the clamps for the heater hoses. To make sure I didn't have the clamps loosen (from expansion and contraction) which you get with hose clamps I used t style clamps. Don't want to have to get in there to tighten the clamp if a leak would develop.
Here's some more pics. Mine was also set back into the unit by around a third. Wasn't a lot of room to make the bend. I used the hose kit that you make your own and you have little clips and a small pliers for the a/c hoses (not the oem style factory ends). You can get 90 deg angles to make a sharper bend but these fittings are still around 2 1/2" long. You would also have to do with heater hoses. I also made a brackets to hold the unit to fire wall. Ones that came with it were flimsy. You can see the bend and stiffness of a/c hose in the one pic. Any tighter and I was starting to put a kink in the hose. This is without the system pressurized. Not trying to take over a great build tread, just showing the fit with the cj7. Also for guys with fiberglass bodies, I first mocked up in a cj8 steel body. When I installed in the cj7 (Fiberglass), I found I had around 3/4" less space between firewall and dash (why control knobs are out so far under dash). If after looking you need me to pull pics please let me know or have mod pull, don't want to clutter a good thread.