My '68 was originally an A/C car - at some point in it's past owner life someone pulled the original 350 and replaced with a SBC. Along with that swap pretty much all of the original A/C parts were lost - except the 'suitcase' attached to the firewall is still the A/C type.
When disassembling the engine bay for restoration I discovered this piece had been damaged (cracked) in a few places, some of which had been 'repaired' with some type of caulking.
I understand this piece is not reproduced, which likely explains the attempted repair. I have some questions...
1. Is there a proper method of repairing this piece? I'm not even sure what the material is...almost looks like fiberglass but it's not fiberglass.
2. Thoughts on whether it is worth fixing compared to replacing with a non-A/C repo. Although I don't have immediate plans to restore the A/C system I haven't ruled it out down the road - and I kinda like the perceived rarity of a factory A/C convertible (not sure how actually rare they were - but up here in Canada they seem very rare to find). Also my assumption is that this 'suitcase' is only required for factory A/C - an aftermarket unit would work with the non-AC suitcase?
If you're not concerned with originality, I'd go with an aftermarket A/C system like Vintage Air. The parts to restore the factory A/C would be expensive and hard to find. Plus, with that evaporator box in place, the valve cover gasket and spark plug servicing on the passenger side goes from an hour or two to an all day job. You can get the non-A/C firewall assembly that just holds the heater core and blower motor, or call up Vintage and see what is needed.
All depends on what you want and how much you want to spend.
Yeah this thing definitely takes up a lot of space that's for sure - so it's tempting just for that reason to scrap it. I understand converting to a non-AC box is a bit more involved than simply swapping boxes though - I believe i read that the fan is different and that the heater core connections are different or come through the firewall at a different angle?
I have done plenty of AC systems on these cars. Converted a few factory units to R134 and installed Vintage air units. Honestly the vintage air is a better way to go. you will still have to replace the condenser, compressor, Expansion valve and dryer anyway with a factory unit and flush the evaporator if its still any good. It is also wise to install at least an 80 AMP alternator.
