Vintage air controls

[Cam]

For anyone who's used non factory supplied controls for your vintage air system, what did you use? We contacted them and were referred to the following page for optional buttons:

http://www.vintageair.com/2016 Catalog/2016 Vintage Air Catalog 57.pdf

Quite frankly - the original and optional buttons are all pretty hideous. I know a few folks have used a nicer control panel PN 491200-RUA but we were told this is not compatible with the unit I received.

The part number on my unit is 10301-VUX-A. Did the older cars come with a different unit that allowed for the nicer control panel?

 

[PeteB]

I designed my own and ordered from https://www.frontpanelexpress.com/. Knobs from McMaster.

 

[Dan Carter]

Cam

Your question is going to be hard to answer in general. Many builders have integrated the vintage controls into other switch types to accommodate the dash style they were going for. If your using an LS engine and swap over to the 4 way coolant control valve, then hot water to the heater core is controlled by the rotary switch that comes with that valve.

My vintage unit had three switches, fan speed, AC on/off, and a thermostat for the core itself. I discovered that the temp sensor to keep the core from freezing over was to short to mount that switch on the dash. I mounted it next to the evap box in the cockpit under the dash. It's pretty much a set once and leave it alone function anyway. I converted the AC on/off to match the toggle switches I had custom made to fit my motif. So the only vintage button that survived my install is the fan speed selector.

There are as many install options here as there are builders. Some of the guys have done really great jobs building their interior layouts. I guess my point is it depends a lot on how you plan to finish your cockpit layout. I recommend if you haven't already, pencil out your design, and like I discovered, it will drive you to a solution. Space is very limited both on the dash and especially behind the dash panel, so take a close look.

 

[Cam]

Thanks guys - the front panel express solution sounds interesting.

Pete - do you happen to have the knob part number you used? Are the pins for the dial adjusters universal or do you need a specific shape?

Car should be arriving next week, I just spend way too much time overthinking the details while I'm waiting for it.

 

[PeteB]

Part # for the knobs I used is 6332K36. The shafts of the switches are half moon on the end.