A/C Delete Box

Question: Did all caprice/impala have a/c or something? I can't seem to find a delete box. I want to have only blower motor/heater core and clean up the engine bay some, but I want heat. Is there a delete/heat only box for these cars? I have a '79, but I assume any year would work. Thanks.

Im pretty sure all caprices came with the c60 or c61 ac option, i think its the impala where ac was optional, id say like 5% of them came without air, kinda like the 250 straight 6, pretty rare, and to be honest yes the box will be smaller bit i dont think it would be that much smaller

I feared that. I even contacted a company that makes aftermarket ac delete boxes for gbody, etc., but they had nothing for our cars. Maybe I'll just custom make one using the original box. Ill have to get it out and study it. Wish I could find a picture of one of those impalas so I could see the box differences in terms of size and how far out it extends from the firewall.

ill have to keep an eye out, i cant remember and i may be wrong, but i dont think the 250's came with ac, so if you can find one with a 250 chances are it doesnt have ac, if i find a pic ill post it.

nvm the 250's came with ac too, i cant find anything without it


this pic isnt very clear, but someone modded theirs

Hmmm, well judging by that second picture of the modded one, I don't think I like the way that looks at all. Maybe if the evaporator top hump were shaved completely off and more of a slant back to the heater core and if it was all done in fiberglass and not "wrapped" with something with silver pins? It might look ok. I was thinking of retrofitting a different car's heater box, but I kept forgetting the heater core is housed in these and the blower fan is turned right side up instead of sideways, so it makes it more difficult to slim it up. On another note, these cars have one of the easiest heater cores to change. I've owned cars where you have to take out half the dash and lay upside down to get one out. Anyway, I'll have to ponder this a bit more. Thanks for the pics!

your welcome, and yeah i dont care for what they did to that either, if ever i see a heater box on ebay (which probably wont happen lol) or anywhere without ac, ill snatch it up, because i want to do that also. I dont want to cut or modify my current box. I know the 77-90's had the same box, but i know it would be even harder to find one without ac in the later years.

There's a dozen or so box b-bodies at the yard I'm going to sometime this week.  IIRC, there's a 78 wagon without AC.  I'll let ya know.

Sweet Seventy9 wrote:There's a dozen or so box b-bodies at the yard I'm going to sometime this week.  IIRC, there's a 78 wagon without AC.  I'll let ya know.

You can also check here:  Car-Part.com

Cool man. Thanks. I am also a member of a lowrider site and someone on there told me that they do exist and that he had one buried in a pile of parts that came off a '78 4-door. Apparently, the blower motor is turned horizontal instead of vertical which is exactly what I want. They must be rarer than a hen's tooth since I've never seen one and can't find a single picture online of one.

I believe A/C was still optional then. Even 1983-88 Monte Carlo SS cars had heaters only in some cars.

Didn't make it to the yard yet..... Hopefully soon.

Im going this saturday, they got a 84 & 86 caprice, and few from the 90's, they had a 1990 but it was just taken out of the system yesterday, id like to go up to winston-salem about 2 1/2 hours from me, bc they have a 79 impala, and a small selection from the 80's and 90's, let me know of anything you all might need

GM B-Body Forum wrote:Im going this saturday, they got a 84 & 86 caprice, and few from the 90's, they had a 1990 but it was just taken out of the system yesterday, id like to go up to winston-salem about 2 1/2 hours from me, bc they have a 79 impala, and a small selection from the 80's and 90's, let me know of anything you all might need

Cool! Yea, if you find an ac delete box, I'd love to have that for sure. Also off the top of my head, a passenger fender would be nice, rear plastics around the inside back window, front door jam trim between a-pillar and kick panels (both sides), a-pillar trim (inside windshield) which I think is the same 77-90, but I could be wrong. Color doesn't matter, just solid with no chalking. A perfect dash pad would be sweet. (yea right, like you'll find one of those and you'd probably keep it.lol).

to be honest, my dash pad is perfect so i wouldnt keep it haha, but im not going to the winston-salem yard where the 79 impala is, ill only have access to the 80-96 models here, so the fenders wont work for you, im sure i can get most of that trim you need, yes that windshield trim is the same, so i know they will have that. And if i do find a good dash pad, im assuming you want or need it with the outside speakers? I hope i find two delete boxes (like ill even find ONE), i want one too!

GM B-Body Forum wrote:to be honest, my dash pad is perfect so i wouldnt keep it haha, but im not going to the winston-salem yard where the 79 impala is, ill only have access to the 80-96 models here, so the fenders wont work for you, im sure i can get most of that trim you need, yes that windshield trim is the same, so i know they will have that. And if i do find a good dash pad, im assuming you want or need it with the outside speakers? I hope i find two delete boxes (like ill even find ONE), i want one too!

Awesome! Yeah, two outside speakers on the pad. If you do find two delete boxes, you will be worn out as it will be labor intensive to get them out.haha

Here ya go!  (the wiper arm is NOT included, lol)



There's a second car with a non-AC heater control in it but I couldn't easily get the hood open and it was too cold out to mess with it so I can't positively say the heater box cover thing is there.  99.999% chance it's still there though.

I was only on a photo recon mission today, so I haven't got a price yet.
As you know though, these things are a royal PITA to remove/replace because they're so heavily glued and screwed in place.
Plus, everything is more brittle in the cold weather making it even more of a challenge to take out without breaking it.
Because of this, it's not going to be cheap.

If either of you two are still interested, lmk

I feel like that Christmas commercial with the M&Ms. THEY DO EXIST!!! Wow, that box is completely different. Looks like even the heater core is farther over? That is perfect! I wonder if the firewall is the same behind it. That would be the only thing that would suck is if the firewall is designed differently, like the openings behind the box. I'm interested!! Wait til you get it out before you come up with a price.haha. It might go smooth and it might not. Be sure and take a picture of the firewall when you get it out too. I'm hoping to have my box out this weekend and then I can compare firewalls at some point. Great find. If there are really two of them at that yard, you should get the other one too if you can because I know bbody wants one as much as I do.

I think this is the only pic on the internet!! thanks lol. Yes i would like one, but im checking all my local yards before i settle on having have one shipped to me.

^ yeah, good luck with that, LOL!

alright, so yesterday i went to the charlotte pull a part, and then today i went to the winston- salem yard, wasnt going to, but they had a few more cars in their inventory and that 79 impala was killing me, i didnt know if it was a 2 or 4 door, so i had to go lol. Turns out it was a 4 door and pretty much bare nothing worth ripping off, it did however have a 8.75 10 bolt which i thought was pretty cool, i snapped a pic of it. But other than that, it turned up pretty dry there nothing i or any one else could use.

solo79 wrote:Awesome! Yeah, two outside speakers on the pad. If you do find two delete boxes, you will be worn out as it will be labor intensive to get them out.haha

So all the dashs i seen were pretty horrible as usual, big massive splits all over, that was at both yards, i couldnt find a decent one. But i am going back next week to the charlotte location, they have pretty much all the trim you need, so if you still want it, ill get what you need then, you have your choice of blue or tan LMK. Oh yeah, i checked all the cars and none had a heater box without a/c. So looks like sweetseventy9 might be the only route!
Heres the 79 impala 8.75 GM 10 bolt:

GM B-Body Forum wrote:alright, so yesterday i went to the charlotte pull a part, and then today i went to the winston- salem yard, wasnt going to, but they had a few more cars in their inventory and that 79 impala was killing me, i didnt know if it was a 2 or 4 door, so i had to go lol. Turns out it was a 4 door and pretty much bare nothing worth ripping off, it did however have a 8.75 10 bolt which i thought was pretty cool, i snapped a pic of it. But other than that, it turned up pretty dry there nothing i or any one else could use.

solo79 wrote:Awesome! Yeah, two outside speakers on the pad. If you do find two delete boxes, you will be worn out as it will be labor intensive to get them out.haha

So all the dashs i seen were pretty horrible as usual, big massive splits all over, that was at both yards, i couldnt find a decent one. But i am going back next week to the charlotte location, they have pretty much all the trim you need, so if you still want it, ill get what you need then, you have your choice of blue or tan LMK. Oh yeah, i checked all the cars and none had a heater box without a/c. So looks like sweetseventy9 might be the only route!

Yea, definitely want the trim.  I can't find anything here local so far.  Blue or tan?  Whichever is in the best shape and is paintable using minor prep without "fixing" it.  Scratch with your fingernail and if it makes a groove, pass on it.  I appreciate whatever you can find and I'm still looking for that lower rocker panel.  I found a ton of stuff at my dad's place including some front corner bezels, another front grille, complete set of fender trims, extra hood trim chrome, seatbelt floor bolt covers in perfect shape I forgot I had and two front door armrests.  SCORE!!  I've slept too many times since I stored all that stuff back in the day and forgot what I had.  I still have about 5 boxes and 3 totes to go through and I'm positive those rocker panels are in one of them.

Sweet Seventy9 wrote:^ yeah, good luck with that, LOL!

Seriously, I think you have to remove the fender to get that box out. I just got done removing the dog house on my car and there are bolts down the left side and underneath that I'm pretty sure you can't get to unless you remove the passenger fender and wheel house. That will be a ton of work for you especially getting both of those boxes. However, if that is a 77-79 fender in that pic, I might be interested in the fender if it's in good useable shape (not rusted out or dented badly) dings are ok. You could raise the hood and prop it with a stick or something, then remove the one hinge to get the fender off which would save you from having to remove the whole hood. Still though a lot of work. I'll buy it from you if you get it out. You should get them both as rare as they are.

Yeah, they're not easy to remove.  Most people I've known that removed theirs has used a BFH and smashed it apart, then fabbed a piece of sheet metal to cover the huge hole that's left.




I'll try to have a price for them tomorrow (monday) afternoon.  
I would have to have a commitment though, meaning payment, before any disassembly is started.


NG on the fender, it's all crinkled up at the front.  it's a 78 btw.  I'll keep my eyes open for one for you.  Caprice or Impala?

lmk


** EDIT **
I just heard back from a friend about the removal .......

"Passenger side inner fender and half the dash has to go.  have fun!"

EEEK!!!!!  What did I get myself into?  LOL!


** 2nd EDIT**
Bad news .... if you want the heat to work, it's not as easy as just switching over the covers.
What my friend meant by "half the dash has to go" was this ↓↓

"you have to remove the blend door actuator cable, vacuum lines, mode selector and etc.
you also have to remove the ductwork from the box (7mm if I recall).
I also believe anyone who switches to that box will require the heat only HVAC controls as well."

That's his car in the pic, btw.


If you want, I'll pull everything.  Just lmk.


.

Hmmm, well I'm good with replacing all that, that's no problem, but there is still one thing that bugs me and that is the position of the heater core.  I'm still wondering if the firewall openings are cut different or not because of that.  That heater core is over where the AC condenser would normally be, so that may be a huge problem.  Starting to talk myself out of it and just mod the box I have heavily which is quite easy since it's only fiberglass.  If you can find out if the firewalls are the same, then I'll do it, but until I know that, I'm kind of leery now.  I don't know, see if maybe your buddy has a pic of his firewall before he put the plate on since he had an ac delete car and then when I get my ac box off I'll take a pic of mine and compare.

Oh and on the fender, I'm pretty sure any 77-79 Caprice or Impala 2 door, and 4 door, even station wagon are all the same.

Yes you will have to remove the fender, but you dont have to rip the dash apart at all, you dont have to deal with vac lines or ducts, i just took mine out about a month ago, i posted it on here, you just have to take the glove box out, and that takes two mins, but i agree with solo79 i talked myself out of doing it, i think id like to put ac back in one day, and thats a nice engine bay! A turbo'd ls, nice. You got it right, they are the same fenders for all three years and models, just the trim is different