[israelisolstice]

Hi guys,
I have a friend with a Solstice GXP which was bought without air conditioning.
He would like to buy it from US and ask a local dealer to install it for him.

Which part numbers does he need to order? Does he have anything else to take care of?

Thanks,
Yair

 

[rob the elder]

There are a variety of threads on this subject.

First, if the car is manufactured without factory air, adding it after the fact is a HUGE effort. The wiring harnesses, controls, brackets, software, switches etc are all different.

For years it was thought to be nearly impossible until one member finally succeeded. That is the single case of an owner doing it. I have heard of one other instance where an owner got his dealer to do the Conversion, but the cost was not revealed.

I believe in order to install the factory parts requires pulling out the dash, all the controls, replacing parts or all of the wiring harness, replacing the heater core, adding brace try to the engine, modifying the ECM and BCM code....

If it were me I would look at an aftermarket add on kit and see what the viability of that solution might be.

 

[TX08manualGXP]

Yeah, they have those kits for classic cars and they were not that expensive. You might ought to try Old air products, classic auto air or vintage air. If you were to go out and buy all the parts to turn a non factory air car into an air car with factory parts, you are probably looking at 5 grand with labor. easily! hell by that time, you could easily sell and buy one with air or trade yours in on one with AC. good luck either way.

 

[GXP-Coupe1]

Funny enough, I am 80% through the installation of an aftermarket system. I purchased OEM under the hood components and used a very small evap unit that will fit nicely under the passenger side dash. Forget about trying to convert the entire system to OEM - dash has to come out, need a new BCM, heater box, and EVAC controls.

This has been a huge undertaking. I weighed the pros and cons, and decided to proceed with this project as opposed to selling the car. I am using the assistance of a 20 year GM service veteran (friend of mine) and we have completed all the under hood additions / modifications. We are at 13 hours of labor!!

We still have to mount the EVAP and wire the system which includes energizing the compressor and the EVAP fan. He expects another 5 to 6 hours.

So far i'm into it for well over $1500 in parts and labor. I love my gxp to death. To me, this was money well spent.

If you have any questions, please PM me.

 

[rob the elder]

Funny enough, I am 80% through the installation of an aftermarket system. I purchased OEM under the hood components and used a very small evap unit that will fit nicely under the passenger side dash. Forget about trying to convert the entire system to OEM - dash has to come out, need a new BCM, heater box, and EVAC controls.

This has been a huge undertaking. I weighed the pros and cons, and decided to proceed with this project as opposed to selling the car. I am using the assistance of a 20 year GM service veteran (friend of mine) and we have completed all the under hood additions / modifications. We are at 13 hours of labor!!

We still have to mount the EVAP and wire the system which includes energizing the compressor and the EVAP fan. He expects another 5 to 6 hours.

So far i'm into it for well over $1500 in parts and labor. I love my gxp to death. To me, this was money well spent.

If you have any questions, please PM me.

Good job. I hope you are documenting the process for us. :grouphug:

 

[caphilli]

Definitely doable. Had it installed this summer. All factory parts. There are a lot of parts needed and someone who knows cars. Now, not saying you need a mechanic, but they need to know cars. With factor parts and by buddy doing the labor for free, it came out to just about $1200. Not bad. And the air blows frosty cold!

PM me and I can send you his e-mail address so you can talk.

 

[GXP-Coupe1]

Wow!!!. just confirming....you installed AC using the dash blower and controls? If so, you're the only one that has done this without taking out a second and third mortgage. Your very lucky to have some one that could do this for you for free. I know first hand that even using a after market evaporator, as oppossed to installing a OEM device is expensive and EXTREMELY time consuming. Who is this guy?....he needs to wear a badge of honour!!!

 

[caphilli]

Yeah, well we just got new controls. As in the ones with the AC button on the first knob. Everything is factory like I said. BCM, wire harness, heater core, ect. He's one of my best friends that I've known for about 15 years. His brother is a mechanic at one of our local airports and he's going to school to be a vet but knows a LOT about cars and bikes. He races bikes as well. Last year he rebuilt his whole engine for his 2002 MR2 Spyder. Great guy. If you're in the LA area and need some work, let me know and I can give you his contact info.