VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1958-1960 1960 Impala Factory Air

We are doing a frame off restoration of a 1960 Impala 4 dr sedan with 348 powerglide and are wanting to keep it as original as possible. The owner wants ac which it does not have. My question is, is it practicle and possible to locate and install factory air in this unit without major modifications? Also: will a 350 turbo 3 speed bolt up to this motor? I know, before you critize, it is a question this man is asking. Thanks for any advise!!!

A 1960 Factory Air may be hard to find. The best place to look would be in salvage yards in either the South or the Southwest USA. Not too many 1960 Chevrolets left the factory with factory air. There was a big market in Texas at that time for aftermarket under the dash installed A/C.

It is do-able, but a pretty huge effort. The only realistic way (in my opinion) is to have a parts car with a fairly complete A/C system to rob from. MANY components are different on an air car.

I agree.

I have a '60 Impala that had Air. I took it completely out myself which was a good experience. There are many "holes" in the firewall and it would take a good effort to install one, but, as mentioned above, is very do-able.

Having a complete parts car is the way to go, not only for the parts, but to use the car for reference.

By the way, mine was a 283 which had a special passenger side exhaust manifold for the Compressor. I'm sure the 348 has a special one as well.

If you get a parts car that is not a 348, you may be able to use a manifold from a 348 truck engine that has an Air Brake set-up. Check an interchange manual to be sure.

Bill

Exactly, this would be a major undertaking to do a factory A/C on a 1960 year car that never had factory A/C. A parts car with the same engine AND factory A/C would surely be the best way to go. I would be reluctant to advise anyone to go that route. Those factory A/C units leave much to be desired for actual functionality. I have a 1968 Impala Sport Sedan with Factory Air on a 327 engine that has been in operation since it was new. I have had almost a full time job of working on it ever trip I have made, remember that the A/C unit isn't all you have to worry about. I have had to replace several other parts, like a blower motor, compressor, compresser, hoses and connections, clutches, dryer, etc. etc. it isn't converted to R134 A either YET. I also have replaced belts, controls, and a fan clutch. My next change will be all the duct work and outlets, and a R134A changeover. I do all of my own work and it is still very expensive.

MrMack,

Just to pass on a little extra info, I was told by a few people including a top notch radiator shop to keep an R-12 set-up R-12. I have a '72 Impala with AC that needs recharging and I first thought about converting it, but since have decided to keep it original. I have also heard that R-134A is not quite as powerful as R-12, altho I know of others who have converted and seem satisfied enough with it.

Bill

Also, R-134A may not be around forever either. In Europe R-134A will have to be phased out by the year of 2012 and chemical companies apparently are already looking at alternatives to be used as a replacement.

:) :grin:

I believe I would rather use the advice of a Air Conditioning Pro than a Radiator Shop Pro, for air conditioning....
By the way I am neither.....
Correct, R134A may not be around forever, neither shall I.
What refrigerant is GM using in the new production vehicles?

I only have a small supply of R-12 and when it is gone the old Chevy will be converted to whatever automotive refergeriant I have the most of.
But not a Hydro-carbon (propane or butane) that some vendors are now selling for automobile A/C refergeriant.

Thanks alot for all the feed back. I am personally trying to talk this gentleman into using a new vintage air set up but I know it would be jepordizing the originallity. If there is anybody that knows of a donor car with AC, let me know. How about the question I posted about whether or not a 350 turbo 3 speed will bolt up to a 348?

I'm confused. We want an original AC, which is a major undertaking, but are considering switching the transmission???

Ray
I don`t blame you for being confused. This very nice 1960 all original Impala with 23K belongs to a new member of our local VCCA club and he wants to completely do a frame-off restoration. He has stated that he would like to have AC in it and possibly change out the 2 speed powerglide to a 350 turbo. I`m only asking the questions. Several of us have agreed to help him and have tried to discourage him from altering this car in any way. He currently has several very nice original cars and says he wants the AC for touring with his family. I am also confused as to why he wants to change out the transmission. It seems that someone has told him the 350 turbo is more reliable.

The powerglide is a fine unit, I have had several turbo-350's rebuilt for me and never had a to have a powerglide done.
John

Chevrolet did the dance around deal about automatic transmissions back then in the late 50s and early 60s and made some decisions based upon ???????? Who knows what.In a couple of thoseyears (1968 for one)you may have a powerglide in one car and a HT 400 in the next one.
Powerglide transmissions are one of the choices of drag racers because of their strength and durability based on the 2 speed design. I dodged buying a powerglide because I drove one of the 1952 jobs that didn't shift into high from low automatically like a Hydromatic 3 speed (1st choice of the other GM Divisions) I still like the Hydromatics, maybe the owner of the 1960 was schooled on GM automatics the same way I was.

I would not go so far as to remove a good running Powerglide and install a HT350 of unknown quality and condition. I doubt that you would realize any advantage in performance in a road cruising and touring car, compared to the initial cost and labor and uncertainity of durability to do the change.

Keep it original!

If you can't have fun driving the 1960 car without A/C, check out some of the aftermarket vendors that won't butcher the car installing the aftermarket A/C unit.
Since you don't have factory air to start with it is a whole new ballgame.(IMHO)

John
How about my question as to whether or not the HT350 will bolt up to a 348?

Yes it will bolt up, but there is an adapter ring that has to be removed from the engine. There is also some linkage's that will need to be changed. I am not sure but I think I remember that the flex plate will need to be changed, it is a powerglide correct? Or a is it a turboglide?

As far as the race powerglide's they are not made from the cast iron version as this one is, and as far as the turboglides..... no comment

Factory AC, hard to find a complete unit and when you do $$$$, and service parts are even harder to find and they to will be big $$$$
Good luck,
John

The in-dash factory air for 1960 was also available for a dealer installation. If you could find a set of instructions from one of these old kits it would be a great help. The RH front fender has to be removed and a hole cut in the cowl for the evaporator to set in. The kit has a sheet-metal plate that screws to the body to act as a filler plate under the evaporator. The body was stamped for the evaporator on the factory installed units and they will not have this plate, but one can be fabricated.

Complete factory dash air units were available thru 1963 but were very labor intensive. These units are not to be confused with the Chevrolet cool-pack units that set under the dash.