I just finished the resto on my 77 Royal Monaco Brougham 4Dr Sedan 360 cubes. Problem is it does not have A/C and the heat is killing me.
I also have a 76 Royal Monaco Brougham 4Dr Sedan w/ 440 that had working A/C when I last had it on the Road. Problem is its body would require way too much resto to be practical with my finances at this time.
Would it be possible to swap the A/C from the 76 to the 77? The 77 doesn't have the vents on the sides of the dash and only has the center vents (The 76 has everything). The 77 is also missing the foot area ducting.
Is this too big a job to consider? Has anyone done something like this in a C-body. Will the electrical system's be incompatible with differences between A/c equipped vehicles and non A/C equipped.
As a side question....can the power door locks be swapped too?
I've searched everywhere and can't find any info on this. If anyone would know...it would probably be someone here.
Joined: Tue Oct 11 2005, 01:33AM
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 5893
I asked the same questions while collecting parts for my 70 Fury restoration.
The AC convert requires attention to three areas, inside the passenger cabin, inside the engine compartment and the firewall. The first two are easy, just bolt on parts, but the firewall required a lot of metal work to plug existing heater holes and to cut out new holes for the AC. I decided to leave the firewall alone. I decided that if the heat really gets to me I would look into one of those after market under the dash units. At this point between the console and various gauges mounted under the dash there is't room for an under the dash unit. So I drive around with a big-ass grin on my face and a little sweat dripping here and there.
Power door locks seemed an easier problem so I bought the solenoids, switches, a bunch of linkage rods and a pair of little plaques saying "Power Lock". Two problems, first being the wiring harness from the door to the car. My car already had power windows so I needed to find a harness with both windows and locks. Couldn't find anything so decided to make some additions to my harness. Before making those changes I tested the solenoids and found they were no good. So I abandoned power locks for now.
I did install an electric trunk release. I plan to buy one of those door lock kits they sell for hot-rods. Eventually I plan to have an alarm system with a key fob to lock/unlock doors and open the trunk.