70chev Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Hey Everybody! I am starting to plan for my body-off restoration of my 1970 Monte Carlo. My brother and I have already gone through the engine, transmission, and front end about 5 years ago. Him and I are going to dismantle the car down to the frame, go through everything, and put back together what we can, and have an autobody shop handle the rest. I am planning on getting all my sheet medal and floor boards from Leo. (I live in northern Minnesota, so there are rust issues.) I guess I am just looking for any input or tips from anyone here. I know you guys are a wealth of information. The biggest upgrade I will be making to my car is adding AC. I am looking at the kit Gen IV complete kit from Vintage Air. Does anyone out there have that, and how well does it work? I would also like a complete wiring kit for my car which one would you suggest? I also need a new gas tank and sending unit. (there are different options for that.) I am sure I will ask a lot more questions along the way, but I just want any tips from anyone out there that has gone down this road! Thank you, Wayne 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCfan Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Hello, Wayne, Great to hear that another '70 Monte is getting a serious restoration - thanks for that! Also, good to know of another '70 MC in MN - I spend summers with my '70 SS just 120 west of Duluth in Crosslake. I've not done a body-off restoration (and probably never will) but I have installed an aftermarket AC system in a '70 MC so I'll share a few comments on that. You may have already done all your research and comparisons in making your selection of the Vintage Air system. If so, I certainly am not suggesting you should change your mind - I've heard it is a good system and several of our members have installed it successfully. If not, you might also want to evaluate the Classic Auto Air system for the '70 Chevelle at this LINK. Although they don't specifically list the Monte Carlo, they gladly ship that kit with a 1' longer refrigerant hose to accommodate the longer distance to the MC radiator. You can download their excellent installation instructions free to see what is involved, but you should definitely call them if you want to seriously check it out. When I installed their system in my other '70 seven years ago, I found their tech support staff to be very interested and helpful. There were also several important (to me) advantages of their system compared to the Vintage Air system. However, products and personnel change over time so you may find something different now. Here's a LINK to a very early photo album I did of my Classic Auto Air installation. Good luck with yours. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Sounds like you will have one great looking Monte! I was also going to add A/C to my NON-A/C 71 Monte and even have all the OEM used parts till i learned the fire wall is different for a 71 A/C or NO A/C vehicle. I have no idea if any aftermarket kits required the vehicle originally had A/C or not, perhaps ask. See attached pictures, I have of the two different firewalls. Bruce Revised, I found the pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS65Speed Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Sounds like you will have one great looking Monte! I was also going to add A/C to my NON-A/C 71 Monte and even have all the OEM used parts till i learned the fire wall is different for a 71 A/C or NO A/C vehicle. I have no idea if any aftermarket kits required the vehicle originally had A/C or not, perhaps ask. See attached pictures, I have of the two different firewalls. Bruce WithACfirewall.jpg WOACfirewall.jpg Revised, I found the pictures Yes they are different firewalls but it is not a big deal to change over to FACTORY air and come out with a better system. I have done both, converted to Factory Air and installed Vintage Air. Honestly the effort required is not much different and the end result is much better with the factory air unit. Yes you need all the parts to do a factory air install and it can be time consuming to find them but with all the folks pulling out factory systems ( I will never ever understand that decision) parts are out there if you want to look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Yep, I still have them in my basement for over 25 years now! Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70chev Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 Thanks for all the info on the a.c.! I know mine looks like the second photo with the red jack handle in it.....MCfan, was yours originally a non AC car?. The one from Vintage Air says it's for a non AC car. However, I do kind of like the one MCfan posted about because there's less modification required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCfan Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Thanks for all the info on the a.c.! I know mine looks like the second photo with the red jack handle in it.....MCfan, was yours originally a non AC car?. The one from Vintage Air says it's for a non AC car. However, I do kind of like the one MCfan posted about because there's less modification required. Yes, Wayne, the CAA system I installed was for a non-AC car. I see they mention that they offer kits for both factory AC and non-AC cars so it may be something I had to specify - I honestly don't remember. I know they offer kits with modern compressors which interface to a factory AC and you definitely don't want that with a non-AC car. As you would know, non-AC Montes came with upper and lower "Astro Vents" controlled by pull knobs in the upper kick panels on both the driver's and passenger's sides. At the time I compared the CAA and Vintage Air systems, one big advantage of the CAA system is that it used only the upper vents at the ends of the dash but left the lower vents in the kick panels completely functional. The VA system disabled the lower vent on the passenger side for their hose routing. I wanted to use the factory style manual AC control panel instead of the digital controls which they now both offer. The CAA system also left the glove box completely intact where the VA system required chopping the back off somehow. Also, the CAA system had a larger evaporator coil and could be serviced/replaced by the user while the VA system was a factory sealed unit that had to be returned for service or replacement. Any/all of those things may have changed in the past seven years so you'll need to compare the current versions offered by both companies. I actually found the CAA staff to be much more interested in my project and very helpful it making their system fit my Monte. Since my '70 Monte had neither AC nor power steering, I had to change the crank pulley to a three groove version and CAA was able to provide the correct one to complement their system. In addition to the longer refrigerant hoses (which they cheerfully provided) I had to use a slightly longer bolt to secure the evaporator unit through the firewall because the Monte has more sound deadening material on the passenger side of the firewall than a Chevelle. The only other consideration is that the adapter between the air hose and the upper Astro Vent has to be installed inside the vent entrance because it is a larger diameter than the Chevelle vent. BTW my CAA system has worked flawlessly for the past seven years although I don't work it hard since I'm not in FL during the summers. You probably won't use yours that much up in Duluth either. I probably use the lower Astro Vent more than the AC much of the winter down here. Let me know if you have any questions or need any more photos as I am in FL with that Monte for one more month before returning to MN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70chev Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 Wow you should really work for them! You know so much about it! Yes all the things you said about the VA system are still true....my only other question is about the control panel....they do offer one with the kit....I would prefer to keep it stock looking....so I just need to find a stock ac control from 1970 and it will work with the kit from CAA? Thanks again for all your help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealRed70 Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Wayne, I have some 1970 A/C - heater contols for sale. PM me if interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Richey Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 I installed the entire kit on my grandpa's car a couple years ago. It works great! Full computer controlled, no vacuum or mechanical levers running to the box. The control panel is 1/2" thick, unlike the old factory controller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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