hello sages- if anybody has serious experience with ac i would appreciate your input. never really cared much about ac cars up in nj,but fla spring and summers really require it. have an 80 volare sl6 stick, no ac or power equipment which i am thinking of putting an ac unit in. best approach seems to be to purchase and install a new aftermarket unit which has the under dash cold blower with the evaporator. these are recirculators not fresh air u nits and are advertised in the car mags. does anybody have any experience with these non factory setups. seems simple enough to bolt in. concerned about reliability, parts availabilty , effectiveness and cost. dont want to get clipped by supercharging ac mechanics who i have found are third in over charging after welders and plumbers.remember back in the 70s plenty of old mustangs had these units. local sages who are even thriftier than me say dont do it- go to a junk yard , get a chrysler compressor, condenser and related parts for chump change, charge it with 134a and purchase an under dash evaporator blowerto hook it too and youll be better off. thanks for your advice. regards bob fisher

or find someone thats parted out a factory air car and use that heater box, etc. There are a couple holes different in the firewall on fact. A/C cars than non. The earlier F bodies (til 78) had an "add on pan" on the firewall (think like a 4 speed hump) and a 2 pc heater/plenum box. I BELIEVE that all the way to 89 a car like a 5th Ave or Diplomat is still the same syatem as the 79-80 F bodies so your sources oughtta still be plenty. Probably better with a Dip or Gran Fury as the 5th Aves had a little different control setup on them, a little more complicated (the A/C control will be marked with temp numbers on the "cool-warm" slide lever.) They have an in car sensor for temp, in teh dash. In the serv. manual itll be listed as "automatic temp control" or "ATC".