ha! i just saw this thread..
few things.
theres another thread where I suggested some equipment.. we should find it.. someone else was posting about dash A/C too.
1. you'll need more than the 9000 BTU a typical underdash car A/C outputs..
2. a radiator mounted condenser will help heat up your engine and wont have the capacity you need. . I suggest a skirt mount unit if you have the room.
3. the sanden SD7 enhanced line of compressors are what i use.. i dont mess with the chinese.. and I like the output curve the sanden produce..
4. proair LLC is who I have bought alot of my equipment from.. I worked with Jeff in sales.. if you want to build a system through them and cant get hold of anyone let me know I'll see if I can get a call in.
5. proair sells Good Year Galaxy 4890 reduced barrier Hose and Burgaclip fittings.. this hose is very easy to work with, bendable and durable.. the fittings only require a plier tool very similar to Pex fittings.. I own 2 of the tools so im happy to loan mine out to anyone who wants to use it.. if you can put pex together you can do your A/C lines..
compressor brackets..
Bracketry systems inc out of Texas has about every A/C bracket known to man.. they are also pretty pricey but a quality piece.
http://bracketrysystems.com/document...it-catalog.pdf
APair is cheaper on brackets if they have a piece for your engine..
https://www.apairinc.com/shopping/?ic=4608
I suggest a system in the 20,000 - 30,000 BTU range to do a nice job of cooling a "cab" if you want to cool a complete 1/2 bus (or a whole short bus) then you will want 40,000 - 50,000 btu. im running close to 70,000 (a 50k and a 20k) on one compressor in my DEV bus.. and im pushing it hard with that.. 50-60k per compressor is the more reasonable max.. I had to do some fancy footwork with adjusting the balance on my TxVs and use high performance refrigerant to make that 70k work..
this is *NOT* cheap unless you can source some of your parts used.. ie ceiling systems that other skoolies are taking out and throwing away.. I have repurposed a **LOT** of Air conditioning equipment as i hate to see it thrown away and I like helping people have A/C.. so if you find someone removing a system, grab it.. you can use parts from it..
just because ceiling evaporators are ugly hanging fro mthe ceiling with cracked plastic covers doesnt mean they need to stay that way.. you can mout the units into cabinetry, down low.. build custom ducting for them etc.. you just need to have plenty of airflow and allow for the water to drain and to be able to service it if you need to replace a relay, blower motor, etc.. they do wear out..
the reason I chose ProAir LLC equipment is that alot of it is open-frame meaning you can install it and duct it / buold enclosure for it how you like.. you arent limited in your install.. if you arent going to gut your driver heater box (which is what I did in my DEV bus because it was really unusable with rust, a leaking unobtainable heater core and 2 bad motors).. then locating an open frame unit to the right of the doghouse i nthe footwell is often a good place.. even in busses with a front co-pilot seat it usually sits back far enough fro mthe dash for you to install an open-frame evaporator..
many are heat / cool units.. you can hook up the heat or not.. they are coolant heat like a standard bus heater.. so if you use omne to gut your driver heater it works good.
https://www.proairllc.com/915-freeze...eat-cool-unit/
https://www.proairllc.com/921-heat-cool-unit/
A/C only..
https://www.proairllc.com/925-cool-only/
in wall bulkhead (mounts above the front or back windshield and could cool most of a well insulated bus or half of a stock bus..
https://www.proairllc.com/ev-1-in-wall-evaporator/
you can see there are lots of different setups..
they sell plenums that fit onto these units which will give you standard 2.5" or 3" duct nipples to attach to.. Proair sells ducting kits as do places like jegs and summit racing..
https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/70606/10002/-1
condensors can be mounted on the roof or under skirt..
an example of a rooftop unit..
I really like the ACT line of condensors.. they are quality kit..
https://www.proairllc.com/cr-2-roof-mounted-condenser/
it will do a solid 35k - 40k BTU of cooling so perfect for a single system
and a nice little skirt mounted unit.. pretty compact and will do in the 40k BTU range..
https://www.proairllc.com/cs-22-skirt-mounted-unit/
here are some brand new complete systems that are designed to operate as road A/C *AND* parked A/C....
https://www.proairllc.com/313-110-12v-w-106-condenser/
I can take some pics of my setups if you like. and if anyone is serious we can contact proair and have them put a system quote together..
you will have at least a couple grand in a nice good capacity setup..
if you simply want to blow some cool air around up front (i'll be adding one of these to my red bus as it has factory A/C but the unit is in the rear and I need just a little extra up front).. then you have options like this..
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/v...gaAjYvEALw_wcB
-Christopher