1969 Camaro - looking for advice

[lsrx101]

Was the condenser included in the Underhood Replacement kit? I would think so, but you seem to indicate that it wasn't.
Either way, that's a bummer.
Your old OEM style R12 condenser is available as a repro. A Google search should find a few vendors. However, many folks rebuild their systems for R134a, so the market for OEM style condensers is shrinking, except for guys with "trailer queens" who go for the look and usually don't make the system work.
I would suggest using a bolt in replacement Parallel Flow condenser for R134a. They are available for your 69 Camaro, along with a handful of other "popular" collector cars. Build the system with R12 as usual and enjoy. The PF condenser will work just fine with R12, possibly a little better than new.
It's likely even less expensive than a "correct" reproduction of the original.

I'll mention this only because the company was mentioned earlier in this thread, but Classic Auto Air lists correct PF condenser.

[Promod]

Was the condenser included in the Underhood Replacement kit? I would think so, but you seem to indicate that it wasn't.
Either way, that's a bummer.
Your old OEM style R12 condenser is available as a repro. A Google search should find a few vendors. However, many folks rebuild their systems for R134a, so the market for OEM style condensers is shrinking, except for guys with "trailer queens" who go for the look and usually don't make the system work.
I would suggest using a bolt in replacement Parallel Flow condenser for R134a. They are available for your 69 Camaro, along with a handful of other "popular" collector cars. Build the system with R12 as usual and enjoy. The PF condenser will work just fine with R12, possibly a little better than new.
It's likely even less expensive than a "correct" reproduction of the original.

I'll mention this only because the company was mentioned earlier in this thread, but Classic Auto Air lists correct PF condenser.

It sounds like there was some confusion here, I took it as his original condenser failed since he's mostly working with original components. If you read from the top of the thread the guy who started it is trying to get an a/c system going on a '69 Camaro and I jumped in since I was also doing the same on another '69 Camaro so I was throwing my thoughts and experience into the discussion since it seemed relevant. He was going the route of working with the original components where as I, after a small amount of effort of doing the same, decided to go with the under hood kit that was mentioned.

[johntempleman]

I think the local guy from whom you got it fixed with R134a, was as you said a young mind so he just gave the old system a new gas to work with that apparently has not worked well enough. Now the idea of providing the old system with the old gas indeed to match the things up is right in my opinion. That too while you still not want to move on to the next car.

[Promod]

So as promised I'm jumping back in to report on my experience with the under hood kit from Classic Auto Air for a ’69 Camaro. Overall I am happy with the quality of the kit so far. There were a few cheesy aspects of it that I have just come to expect when dealing with any type of aftermarket installation kit regardless of the system it's for. Probably the biggest thing for me was the way they wanted the condenser mounted. It included four flimsy brackets that they said to mount to the radiator support with sheetmetal screws. I didn't like this so I built new brackets that picked up the rubber mounted attach points from the original condenser installation. Really the only other thing I changed was the wiring for the two cut-out switches. What they sent was totally functional but I changed out the wires to green in color to match what GM used for the compressor clutch wiring power to give it more of an original look.

I was happy with the fit of the system but one thing to note here is the hoses were all cut to fit. This was due to the fact that I was installing this on a pretty rare original '69 Camaro that is a 6 cylinder car with factory a/c so they didn't offer a direct fit hose kit for this one. So I can't speak for how the hoses fit in applications where they offer the pre-made hoses. I was a bit afraid that the A6 replacement compressor would stick out like a sore thumb and not look right on an otherwise original car but it really doesn't look too bad. And I could make it look even more original if I were to paint the bare aluminum finish black.

It was a pretty simple install and most of the instructions were adequate. The only real complaint on this front was for the freon charge amount. They recommended just basing it off the original factory recommended charge amount for the R12 system and do the math for the R134 conversion. I was a bit suspicious of going this route since there was some pretty big variables in just the physical size of some of the components in the new kit as compared to the original. So what I found was going off their recommendations the system was over charged. I just ended up starting with a 2lb charge and bumping the charge up 1/4 lb at a time until I got acceptable performance and pressures from the system. The low pressure switch did quickly fail to the closed position so I replaced it with one sourced from a local parts store. When I called and mentioned this issue to Classic Air they had no problem crediting $20 back to me. I should probably verify they did this. lol

So far I have found the performance of the system to be acceptable. On a sunny 95 degree day and letting the car get totally heat soaked sitting out in the sun it will quickly start blowing out 55 degree air at idle and with a little time and driving to get airflow over the condenser the temps will quickly drop into the 40's. I haven't done any longer highway driving but with the way the system is acting I would guess that as the interior temperature of the car continues to drop that the vent temperatures would go lower yet.

So as long as there are no component failures in the near future and the system continues to operate as it currently does I would say this kit is worth the money at about $950 dollars. In some cases there may be cheaper ways to get a system going but if you keep in mind the amount of time a kit like this can save, it can make a lot of sense in many cases.