I'm not sure what the availability of front a/c units is gonna be like for
vanagons, but I'd bet it'll be pretty tough to find one. I've talked to a
couple "rodders" at work, and they say they've heard good things about the
following: http://www.vintageair.com/

It would mean totally redoing the front of the bus. I'm not sure it would
be worth it, but some of the units vintageair sells are pretty compact. I
was considering stuffing one into a Porsche 924 before it departed my fleet.

My '85 westy is running a stock rear a/c, converted to R134a, and no
problems. I had a leaking compressor, so just replaced it with a new one.
Doesn't make ice on the inside of the windows, but makes a great
difference. Good luck.

steve
'85 westy
kent, wa

At 03:04 PM 6/4/99 -0700, you wrote:
>Many moons ago, I found a fellow in Mexico who sells and installs
>aftermarket airconditioning for VW busses. He did not know if
>the dimensions of the bus ceiling was close enough to the dimensions
>of the Vanagon ceiling for the components to fit.
>
>I would really like to know, but I don't have a bus handy to make
>the comparison. I know that at least one list member has a backyard
>full of busses <and> vans, hopefully someone can go out and
>eyball the situation.
>
>Or more specifically can someone answer the questions, "Will the
>FRONT mounted evaporator from a bus fit in a van?"
>
>And as long as we are talking about these things, how hard/practical
>would it be to add a FRONT evaporator to a van that already
>has a rear evaporator (or visa versa)?
>
>I have the old style VW dealer installed FRONT evaporator on my
>'86 Syncro. In Arizona it is very effective, though it takes
>a while to cool down after sitting in the sun on 100+ degree
>days;). It is still running with Freon.
>
>John-Reed Maffeo
>Mesa, AZ
>