I am contemplating installing factory A/C in my brother's 83 Dodge van. It is a slant six non a/c van right now. It was a base model so the dash doesn't even have any vents in it.

I already have the van specific slant six A/C compressor and brackets, and I figure I can pick up the hoses, condensor, evaporator, and associated ductwork and wiring from a junkaed van. Near as I can figure, the hardest part will be installing a new dash that has the vents for the A/C.

I have never pulled a dash from a Dodge van before. How involved is it? Anyone have any tips about installing A/C like this?

I am planning on helping a friend do this in the spring. He has a 78 and my father-in-law has an 85 I'm going to use as the donor.

I personally have never pulled a dash but I do that in additon to the 4 screws along the sides of the dash on the A-pillars, there are screws that run along the base of the windshield frame. You'll need a long philips to get to these. Not sure if the dash is held in by any screws from underneath.

I know "Gup E Boy" Jim LeSage pulled the dash out of 80 a while back.

Pulling the dash is easy, It is easier to pop the windshield to expose the screws along the front and there is just a few stiffener bkts to make it solid along the front bottom edge. Just yanking out and installing the new stuff under the hood is . I installed a Vintage air with heat and built a new dash instead it was easier. The Gen II super is powerfull enough to chill the van nicely in july on the maden voyage to the nats. This leaves nothing under the hood except the compressor which all mount the same pretty much and the dryer , the only thing is to use a stock condenser up front of the radiator, mopars are very big and are fairly cheap. And Condensers really, the bigger the better !!!

Reed,I just might have you covered on this swap.I pulled everything out of a 90 I had to junk out and I might have saved the dash.I'm sure I've got the heater/air box,ducts,plemun,connectors,everything.Just about bet it's the same setup as for the 83.I'm not that far and if you want it it's yours for,ummm,how about free,that work?

THANKS GUYS! I will dig out my old 84 Dodge van factory service manual and see if it talks about pulling the dash. I would rather not pull the windshield, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Phoenix- Nice work! unfortunately, this van is my brother's "band van" so it needs to stay low profile. Keeping it looking like a stock somewhat beater van from 83 keep thieves out of the back...

Reed, here's all my '81 service manual had in it that looked to be useful:



This was in section 24 "Heating and Air Conditioning."

Hope that helps!

Clear skies!

And here's what I could find on the AC ductwork:



BTW, I did just recently get a few of the gaskets from wholesalemopar.com. They're nothing that a trip to Lowes or Home Depot couldn't supply you with.

Clear skies!

Thanks! My 84 shop manual shows similar diagrams. Does anyone know if the face of the dash where the vents go can be removed independently from the top? I doubt it, since it looks like it is all one stamped unit, but I never know.

That is one cool thing about vans- installing/removing a factory A/C system is much easier than on a car. no holes to cut in the firewall!

Reed, if you mean the 4-vent cluster, it just drops out as an assembly, by loosening 4 screws on it's captive nuts. I pulled one out of a donor van as a backup, and it wasn't difficult. I think I removed the doghouse, then just loosened the screws at the end of the dash and removed the brace rods on either side of the doghouse and pushed up hard, then reached in and loosened the 4 screws.

I've decided that I could throw as many words at this as I wanted and not do a good job of describing it, so I took a picture for you. 2 of the captive nuts are parallel to the face of the vents, and 2 are perpendicular:



Hope that helps you. I do have the doghouse pretty accessible in my van too, so I could always take a few shots of the equipment as installed if you need to see anything else.

The one thing I might think to mention is that the flexible connector body which couples the vacuum hoses to the climate control center tends to rot. It literally crumbles when you touch an affected one. Make sure you've got a good one, or you might have to do some creative potting with RTV to replicate it's function.

Clear skies!

Say, Reed, it just occurred to me - if you're going to be working in the area where the heater airbox is, I'm dying for a picture back through the fresh/recirculate door opening towards the door post. I've got some sort of a water leak from what I think must be a panel seal in there, (my passenger side rocker actually filled up with water!!! ) and without knowing what's down there, I can't make effective plans to fix it. I'll be pulling my aircon eventually, (maybe late spring) but if I can fix it before that, I'd be thrilled.

Clear skies!