Friday, May 1, 2026

Its hard to believe, but I finally wrapped up the rebuild of my driver’s door on my 55 Chevy 2-door wagon. What I expected to be “a weekend job” turned into more than two-and-a-half week project!

The next project I need to focus on is adding Air Conditioning to the Chevy. I’m probably going to buy one of those 12v AC kits on eBay.

I’ve watched several installation videos on YouTube, and the install is pretty simple. On my Chevy, I’ll have to locate the compressor under the hood on the inner fender. The obvious issue I see before I pull the trigger and buy a system is the fact that the cooling fan and condenser are 4.7 inches thick. Due to the fact that the car was originally a 6-cylinder car, the radiator is on the front side of the core support, and it takes up the space we need to mount the fan and condenser unit on the front side of the radiator.

I have purchased a used hood latch support to modify so I can create extra space that the fan/condenser unit need. One YouTuber suggested buying a thinner cooling fan to replace the one you get with the A/C kit, and I think I’m going to buy one just to create some breathing room. I can’t move the radiator; there’s no room to place it behind the core support, which is where its located on a factory V-8 car.

One thing I’m going to look at is that I would prefer a kit that allows me to make the hoses to length needed, rather than using pre-made hoses that are three times longer than I’ll need. I would like to try to be certain to have an evaporator assembly that is as narrow as possible because it will need to fit in the passenger side under the dash and still leave room for the gauge cluster.

I may go ahead and order the kit so I have plenty of time to get it installed and assembled. I just to make sure the kit I choose is going to be a good fit, i.e., with hoses I can shorten as necessary.

My hope is the narrower fan will ease my space concerns regarding installation of the condenser/fan unit. The units I’m looking at also double as a heating unit, which will be a nice addition for driving the car in cooler temperatures.

SHADETREE CONTENT? My next review will be of two different GPS-based speedometers. The first is the very plain Jane one that only shows speed. The second will be the one I’m currently using, the full-featured one.

THIS WEEKEND. My wife wants to go for a cruise in the Chevy this weekend, either tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday. Sounds good to me. The weather will be very cool tomorrow, warmer on Sunday. The car is mostly clean, with the exception of some bug splats on the hood from the drive home after the car cruise on Sunday.

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