Vintage Air heat units

[Embryo]

This weekend I am going to be pulling my dash to install a new cover because of the sun damage and cracking on the current one. When the dash is out I was planning on pulling my A/C system and converting to a heat only factory box to clean up the engine bay. After looking around I stumbled upon the Vintage Air heat units with defrost like the one at the top of this page( http://vintageair.com/2012catalog/2012 VintageAir Catalog Final WEB (Page 49).pdf ). For the price that guys are getting for a stock heat box I can almost pick up one of these units that go completely behind the dash and are about the size of a large shoebox. My thinking is that the Vintage Air setup behind the dash with a panel delete on the firewall would be the ultimate in cleaning things up? Anyone ever used one of these? Thanks, Evan

 

[INTHE10s]

I plan on doing the same thing but with the summit racing version. Slightly cheeper than the vintage air.

 

[Embryo]

I looked into the Summit heaters at first but realized they don't actually shut off the coolant flow when the heater isn't running. On the Vintage Air setups there is a valve on the coolant inlet to the heater which prevents the interior from getting warm even when the fan is off. That was the biggest reason, the second being that they don't have a split between floor heat and defrost.

 

[Embryo]

The Vintage Air unit showed up on Friday and is a pretty nice piece. The heat/defrost box is tiny and easy to package behind the stereo area in the dash. It's going to be a bit before the rest of the install is done but I got the unit itself along with the heater controls mounted tonight and I am pretty happy that I went this route.

 

[INTHE10s]

I like where you mounted the controls. Looks like it could have been factory.

 

[shvrolay]

Any particular reason you mounted the unit where you did and not behind the glove box/the original location of the heater box?

 

[Embryo]

Any particular reason you mounted the unit where you did and not behind the glove box/the original location of the heater box?

The floor heat flapper door is on the bottom of the unit directly below the round defrost ducts. The way it is mounted currently will disperse floor heat over the top of the transmission tunnel on both sides. If mounted behind the glove box the passenger would get all of the floor heat and the driver would get none. It's also the way the instructions said to mount it and there is more room there so I went with it.

 

[rsh4364]

thanks embryo im going to go this route,was gonna go summit but after you pointed out downsides changed my mind,Its not unusual for me to take malibu out in winter for a romp..as long as roads are dry and salt free.Can you still have radio in fact. location tho?

 

[Embryo]

Can you still have radio in fact. location tho?

Yes, there is more than enough room for the stereo. I finished the rest of the heater hose install tonight and temporarily wired the controls to test everything. Everything worked great and I am sure it will be more than enough heat and defrost for a few chilly nights per year.

 

[guysmontess]

The Vintage Air unit showed up on Friday and is a pretty nice piece. The heat/defrost box is tiny and easy to package behind the stereo area in the dash. It's going to be a bit before the rest of the install is done but I got the unit itself along with the heater controls mounted tonight and I am pretty happy that I went this route.

Looks like a really nice setup !!!
Guy