I need 620 a/c pictures

[slam_dat_sun]

I am in the process of restoring and customizing my 620 , I have some parts lined up for a factory a/c unit behind the dash type . Could some peeps please post me some pics of your factory a/c unit so I have an idea of how it goes together ? I would like pics of the a/c dash controls , under the dash and under the hood Thanks yall :) p.s. I have searched every where I could think to find it with no luck

[slam_dat_sun]

bump

[yello620]

Daniel, I have yet to see A/C specific pictures posted on this forum. And i have yet to hear from anybody that has a complete working A/C system in a 620.:( I have a lot of the parts in boxes, but not a complete system yet. And i would like to see the pictures too.

 

So, free bump.:D

[67411sss]

I have '71 thur '76 air conditioner parts manuals that i can photocopy but they don't have any in vehicle pics.

[slam_dat_sun]

I have '71 thur '76 air conditioner parts manuals that i can photocopy but they don't have any in vehicle pics.

 

Hell yeah why not , when you get a chance snap some pics and post them so I can study them . Thanks a million :lol:

[Z-train]

Daniel-in a nutshell,the underdash unit it self contained(seperate from the heater system) and it hangs from the existing dash.The two refridgerant lines come thru the firewall and attach on the back of the unit.Then a power line for the blower motor is the last connection.

[67411sss]

Here are some pics, hope they help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[slam_dat_sun]

Thanks 674 that helps a lot :D

[67411sss]

I found this shot of the dash,:)

 

[Moisabamf]

alternator turns DC into AC!

amidoingitrite?:D:D

[slam_dat_sun]

I found this shot of the dash,:)

 

 

This is a great picture , isnt it a dealer add on ??????????????

[slam_dat_sun]

alternator turns DC into AC!

amidoingitrite?:D:D

 

This is true and funny :lol:

[Seeker > 620 KC]

In 1975 I worked for Joe Vittone's Datsun dealership (of EMPI fame) at the new auto mall in Riverside CA. It was one of the largest volume Datsun car sellers in the country one of the first multi- manufacturer malls on the west coast. They sold VW, Honda , Fiat , Lotus, Opel, Suburu, Jensen Healey, Datsun, and a couple other exotics on special order.

 

I was part of a team who installed dealer options on new cars including door moulding, mirrors, bumpers, slotted and other style mags, Jackman can-opener style and other steel wheels, after-market cruise control kits, custom bumpers , AC, camper shells and the likes. Being inland in a desert community AC was our biggest seller. It was also very new to a small import car market with tiny cars that had very little horse power to power big square piston powered compressors.

 

The definition of "Dealer Options" then was after- market products NOT made by Datsun/Nissan and the other import mfgrs. Shipping was much slower and basic engine & drive-train warranty parts were hard to find and acquire. Coming from overseas there were very very few option parts available that dealers would commit to ordering without having it special- ordered and pre- paid for. Even then you could wait 8-10 weeks for it depending on demand. A Datsun Factory AC unit was one these units and they were really expensive for the time! The AC could be 20-25% of the purchase price of an economical car like a Datsun .

 

If we installed aftermarket AC in some vehicles like then Fiat X-19 it required drilling a 4-5" duct hole thru the unibody firewall which voided the factory warranty before the vehicle left the lot brand new!

 

It was much easier, faster, cheaper, and more profitable for dealers to acquire after-market AC units and have us slam them into new cars in the smoldering desert. If a buyer didn't use (or look for) the term "factory A/C" they got after market AC. They were shiny molded plastic and to the (interior) eye looked the same.

 

Copyright laws weren't so strict yet either and after- market parts suppliers would put mfgrs logos on parts boxes like performance products, trailer hitches, camper shells, and the likes to help sell them and for installers to identify them by. At the time car mfgrs didn't seem to mind as it helped advertise their brand. The confusion over failed parts, who actually made them, their liability, and the was sort was still in its infancy.

 

Unfortunately, in my experience the unit in the above pic is an aftermarket AC unit and I can tell at a glance. Nissan uniformly used threaded line fittings. The dryer unit in the one pictured above is a universal dryer with slide-on hose- barbs req requiring hose clamps. These were high pressure lines and these slide fittings leaked religiously sooner or later. The repair team racked up mega flat-rate labor hours off this design flaw. Quickly tighten hose clamps, evacuate the system, & recharge. Most of the time they would even need/ want to run the freon-sniffer over the system for bother leaks $$$!

 

The second quick glance way I'd label it an after-market unit ...the dryer is mounted with a giant 3-4" hose clamp! Corner-cutting cheapo! Nissan was not shy about creating documentation and typically included it in in their SRM's &/or put NISSAN on everything with lots of confusing categorization, compared to ours in the us. The above AC unit looks like a state-side unit to me. Hope this helps.

[Seeker > 620 KC]

The AC evaporator in the picture above IS an aftermarket unit made in the USA. Yes it says Datsun on the switch plate face. It is pure American know-how 70's era sales hype, to match the bezel silver paint.  It doesn't prove a thing about authenticity.  I'm so "over" people shoving that ad in my face to prove they have a "rare" or an "original Nissan brand AC." 

 

That's more than likely a print ad put out by one of the bigger dealers in a local magazine, in the mail, &/or and handed out in their lobbies advertising AC in a Datsun for hot climate cities, like Riverside, San Bernardino, Palm Desert, AZ, etc. Copyright laws were in their infancy in the automotive industry back in those days. And the dealers didn't have Nissan brand factory-made 620 units abundant to install until 1978. And... the dealers really didn't want to be installing AC in used vehicles. They were far more interested in installing Nissan AC units in NEW cars for better mark-up $. At the desert dealer I worked we were always swamped. The salesman would rather swing a trade-in deal on your 1 year old or less new Datto, to get you in a new car/truck that already had the AC installed in it than take us away from installing AC in new vehicles. And they couldn't make as much off the installation. 

 

A fair number of earlier year 620's did have AC added after in 1978 or later when the units became more available. But I haven't seen one in the last 35 years in So. Cal. or my travels to OR or WA. 

 

 A lot of US companies made AC units for a few different popular models of Datsun (Z's & 620's, possibly 510's but I don't recall many) like ARA, FridgeKing, or something like that, and 3-4 others I can't remember right now. Those companies were also busy as hell and having a hard time gearing up production and getting their own new units. It was the first gas crisis and the popularity of economy cars was just starting to catch on to little vehicles vs. the previous comfort mondo sized gas guzzlers. 

 

If you have one of the units pictured above... and don't believe me it is an aftermarket unit...look at the end of the squirrel cage fan and read what it says...

"General Industries, Elyria Ohio." It says something similar on the switches inside the unit "Ranco, USA." 

 

Nowhere on that evaporator unit will you find an official Nissan/Datsun bowtie style stamp or emblem embedded on any part. No-where will you find "Made in Japan." Nowhere will you find a gold colored Nihon motor part. 

 

Read the next few lines as if Jeff Foxworthy were saying it...

 

You more than likely don't have a Nissan 620 AC unit if: ( to the sound of "You may be a redneck if...")

 

The compressor bracket is made of plate-steel (welded) vs. cast iron 

Your hose fittings on the dryer, condenser,  and compressor use hose-barbs and hose clamps vs. o-rings and screw on fittings. 

The evaporator unit (the part inside the car/cab) is installed using sheet metal screws shooting into the bottom of the dash brackets, or kick-panels vs. threaded holes in the dash. 

Your evaporator unit looks different than the pics shown in the Nissan Factor Service Manuals, 1978 & 1979 for sure, (possibly late 1977?)

The parts says Made in USA, Taiwan, China, etc. on the case, part sticker, motor unit, or switches.

You can't find "Made in Japan" anywhere on any part (on the case, part sticker, motor unit, or switches.) 

 

Nissan never made freon parts utilizing barbed slide-on hose fittings, with welded compressor brackets, or units that used sheet metal screws to hang the evaporator units. Every one you've ever seen like that is an aftermarket product made anywhere in the world, and could have been installed by a Datsun dealer, but more than likely by one of the many automotive AC shops that have nearly faded away into oblivion, or on occasion the rare full service garage mechanic. The dealers never produced or made units. The factory units were just not that available in the early to mid 70's and they had to buy aftermarket units from US producers..  But the unit picture posted earlier and the units I just mentioned are not a Nissan product even if installed by a dealer. They were typically made in USA at that time, not Japan. Those units failed, barbed fittings leaked, and they needed service far more often than the real Nissan units. They were cheaper made products with lots of problems and the dealers wanted to get away from installing them as fast as possible. 

 

For all you guys who don't care what kind of AC it is as long as you're cool, this doesn't affect you.

 

For all you "purists" as one of my younger swap meet friends likes to call himself... (he regularly cracks me up and is high in entertainment value because he doesn't have stock wheels, stock stereo, or a stock back window, and he's repainted some or all of his interior, and buffed out his paint nicer than it came from Nissan,  but he calls his truck 100% original as it came from the factory.  I lived the 70's and know what original looked/looks like. But it really doesn't matter as long as were still cruzing.)  I hope this helps you identify authentic Nissan AC parts... if it really matters.   My dates could be off some like my memory, but the basics are correct. Nothing to get heated about. 

 

Hope this was as entertaining for you to read as it was to post.

 

Stay cool,

Seeker 

[125 CSL]

Now where did I put that picture of my window crank,..