To provide access to the firewall I removed the glove box and the factory blower motor/housing from under the hood. I held the under dash unit in place and saw that the hoses would need to pass through the firewall just below the blower housing. The firewall has an indention that is about 1 ½" wide by 4 ½" tall that is in just the right place. I cut this out with the hole saw but the cut off wheel would've been cleaner. A grommet for the hole can be made from vacuum line cut lengthwise and slipped over the sharp edges. (figure 3)

I replaced all of my heater hoses when installing the new heater control valve. Vintage air suggests using two "T" fittings and two 90 degree elbows to connect both the front and rear heater cores. The "T" fittings worked well but I found that a piece of molded 5/8" heater hose with two 90 degree bends could be cut in half and fit the rear seat heater hose connections much better.

After connecting the wiring, heater hoses and A/C lines I mounted the under dash unit in place. The passenger side brackets fit per the instructions but I had to make the brackets for the driver's side. I mounted the driver side vent in place of the idiot lights and moved them to the kick panel. (Tip #3 When connecting the A/C lines don't forget to oil the "O"-Rings, it's important for proper seals.) (figure 4) (figure 5)

I used the existing hole in the dash where the factory throttle control cable would have been (if my truck had been so equipped) to mount the fan switch. The defrost/fresh/recirculate lever became the ac/heat/recirculate lever. The vent/heat lever became the heat/defrost lever. Vintage air provides a separate control for temperature that mounts on the under dash unit. I reinstalled the factory blower at this time. I can run the factory blower fan to inject fresh air directly into the fan for the new unit. This compensated for the lack of a fresh air intake on the new unit. (figure 6)

Evacuate, leak check and charge with 1.8 pounds of R134a and now I wheel with the windows up in August.

My total cost was just at $1,000.00 all-inclusive. Vintage Air also lists the same setup in an R12 configuration.

For more information on the FJ55 feel free to contact me direct and/or join our Internet Registry or mailing list at lwilliams@cov.com . For more information on the unit itself or other applications contact Vintage Air at (210) 654-7171. (byline photo - Me and the Rock Lobster)