TECHNOLOGY

Performance Is Always First

more valuable every day. Owners of these cars were
becoming reluctant to cut or damage the original
sheet metal on their, now valuable, classics. We
knew there was a need for bolt-in type air conditioning systems that would not require any (or minimal)
cutting, drilling or modifications to these vintage cars
and trucks. And so we designed the first of our
series of SureFit bolt-in climate control systems for
the ever popular 57 Chevy, and then 55-56 Chevys.

intake systems problematic. And finally, and maybe

most important, rotational harmonics from misaligned brackets and pulleys on high performance
engines can cause metal fatigue and drive failure in
short order. So a stronger design was needed.
From our studies of OEM drives, race car drivecomponents and our own experience at Bonneville,
we created the first high-performance, all-inclusive,
block mounted engine drives that we now call the
Front Runner Systems. The Front
SureFit Kits Were The First
Runners are the most compact
Make-and-Model Specific
mounting packages available anyClimate Contol Systems
where. We have tested these
drives under some of the most
grueling punishment we can deliver: thousands of road miles, thousands of autocross laps, and component destruction tests in our
R&D facilities. Front Runners were
the first, and theyre still the best.
(See Pages 58-64).
And we never rest. In 2001,
Gen IV
we once again started from
SureFit
scratch to design the next evoluShown
tion (a revolution, actually) of
Vintage Airs climate control systems. These all-new Gen IV Systems incorporate
Today, the SureFit systems are a major part of our
everything we have learned over thirty-six years. We
product line, which now covers most muscle cars,
created an entirely new evaporator case with amazing
classics and vintage pickups. See Pages 12-41.
capacity and air flow delivery plus easier mounting in
In 1999, we completely redesigned our most
later model cars. We went back to an idea we piopopular systems using state-of-the-art computer
neered many years ago of using separate cooling and
modeling applications to improve their performance
heating coils, combined with our advanced electronic
and reliability. These new Gen II TM units incorporated
controlled air blend doors, to improve performance in
unique features such as electronic servo-actuated
the new Gen IV systems. We even built our own inair doors for enhanced air flow and defroster funchouse CuproBrazing TM facility to manufacture our
tions. We used virtual modeling and actual wind
coils. To operate the new Gen IV systems, our intunnel testing to improve overall cooling and heating
house engineers developed solid-state electronic
capacity. We also re-engineered our control panels
controls which eliminate all vacuum requirements,
to utilize the new electronic functions of the Gen II
systems. Despite being disparaged at the time by
some competitors in the market, our Gen II technology systems have proven to be the largest selling
and most trusted climate control systems for over
fourteen years!
Our next challenge in 2000 was to engineer a
better way to mount and drive all the engine accessory systems such as the alternator, the power steering pump, and of course, the air conditioning compressor. Fitting a modern V8 engine into a vintage
vehicles small engine compartment has always been
all cables, and the conventional capillary tube thera problem. We felt a super-compact drive package
mostat. Now the Gen IV system controls can be
was needed. Also, conventional mounting bracket
mounted almost anywhere you want in the vehicle, with
systems available at the time usually attached to the
only a slim wiring harness to route! On many of our
modern V8 engines cylinder heads, making modificaGen IV SureFit Systems, this technology even allows
tions like varying deck heights and performance
you to adapt your cars original

dash controls to our fly-by-wire electronics.

Owners of these new Gen IV systems tell us that
they honestly feel the Gen IV is as good as the climate systems in their OEM late model vehicles.
And there are many other small, almost unnoticeable advancements too. We hold patents for
our deceptively simple looking Electronic Cable
Converters included in many SureFit kits (Page
13). These little devices replicate the mechanical
movements of conventional cable levers into an
electronic function which learns the stroke of a
vintage cars original cables in order to control the
Gen IV SureFit systems.
And speaking of SureFit kits, we have continued to add to our expansive line of bolt-in, makeand-model specific, climate control systems for vintage cars and trucks (See Pages 12-41). Each one
of our SureFit kits is engineered using as many as
five or six examples of each make and model vehicle (see below). Most people dont realize that
every car model produced in Detroit has had many
small and large design changes throughout its
manufacturing cycle. We document and allow for
these variances to make each kit as close to nocut and no-drill installations as possible.

Throughout the past thirty-seven years, our products have received many patents and industry
awards for technology, and we have pioneered
many important advancements in the mobile air
conditioning field. We strive to
make updating or adding a modern climate control system for
your special vehicle as simple
as possible. Remember, when
you choose Vintage Air, you are
getting almost four decades of
knowledge and experience, plus
the skills of over 120 American
workers with each system.
Just ask anyone who owns a Vintage
Air system. At Vintage Air, Performance
Is ALWAYS First!

SUREFIT R&D PROGRAM

As mentioned above, every SureFit kit we develop requires an
amazing amount of hands-on work. To make our SureFit kits BoltIn, we must allow for all the factory changes that have been incorporated into the OEM production run. We use many examples of
each model to assure that our kits are as easy to install as possible.