After driving the bird in Houston for a couple of years without a/c, I couldn't take it any more. I had to have A/C! I wanted it look as good as a factory installed unit. A parts car was purchased for this. A blue 69 hardtop was the donor car. It had a 2-speed automatic in it. I did not realize how many differences there were between the a/c and non-a/c cars. Besides the bolt-on parts, the hole in the firewall was completely different. I welded in a piece from the donor car firewall with the help of my brother, Mark. The dash required a center vent to be cut in. Every pulley in the car was different, power steering, harmonic balancer, etc.

The photo on the left shows the cut out I made for the A/C. The middle photo shows the new piece welded in and painted semi-flat black. The right photo shows the completed firewall patch. I was pleased that I couldn’t see the cut out line after welding.