relocating a/c controls

**loud4u96** · 01-19-2005, 09:32 PM

i was wondering if anyone could help me out here... i have a 96 camaro and i was wanting to relocate the a/c controls to another location. does anyone know how to relocate them and what all do you have to do. thanks
-Brandon

**DallasCamaro** · 01-19-2005, 10:12 PM

Hey brandon, I've got a 2000 Camaro, and right now I'm in the process of building a system to put your AC controls into the carputer. It will basically be a driver board plugged into a serial or parallel port, which will control your AC system, I'm just finishing up the hardware part of it, and hoping I can talk some of these front-end designers into adding it to their software. For now, my AC control is in the glovebox. If you take the AC control out, you will find 3 things basically. There is a wiring harness plug in.....this controls fan speed, ac request signal, control illumination, and rear defroster control, then there is a cable.....this cable runs from your temperature knob to the blend door in your evaporator unit. the cable is long enough to be rerouted. I moved mine without disconnecting this cable, but if you need to, e-mail me for directions. It is easiest to disconnect from the blend door, not the control unit. Then ypu will find vacuum tubes. 7 of em I think. they plug into the mode knob, through a vacuum plug. these are simply tubes which carry a vacuum, the vacuum is applied to door actuators when you turn the knob, controlling where the air blows. If you unplug the vacuum harness, you should be able to move the plug over to the glove box area and plug it back in. Then all you need to do is lengthen all the wires in the elecrical harness going to the unit.

If you are trying to relocate it farther <the center console, i thought about that, but mine's only temporary> you're limited by the blend door control cable. But there are ways around that if you need to, lemme know

-Rob

**loud4u96** · 01-19-2005, 10:36 PM

hey man, thanks for the help, i probably will just move them down underneath where the cd player goes. i dont have my car right now b/c its in the shop getting a new tranny in it, but do you think everything will be long enough reach down below the cd player?

Im thinking about getting a carputer here soon and i was wondering whats the cheapest and smallest mobo i can get and all componets do i need to finish the project?

one again thanks for the help, ill keep ya updated!

-Brandon

**Dem0s** · 01-20-2005, 04:33 PM

I need to do this in my Crossfire as well. I am hoping to have the PC ccontroled setup as well. Does anyone know if the vent control on the Crossfire/SLK is a cable or switch?

**n8scstm** · 01-20-2005, 04:45 PM

I'd bet that its purely electronic on that car. No cables or vacuum tubes.

**Gibson99** · 01-21-2005, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by n8scstm

I'd bet that its purely electronic on that car. No cables or vacuum tubes.

i'd second that. even the econobox toyota echo and scion xa/xb (same platform) are 100% electronic climate control panels now.

i wish that was the case in my miata. it's got cables for fresh/recirc, temp(blend), and for vent position select. not very easy to relocate, and i sure wish i could move it. even vaccuum lines wouldn't be a big deal since you can always extend them with splices and more hose. i'd much rather have the stereo (touchscreen soon) above the hvac than below it. when i'm in any of the odd gears (1, 3, 5) i can't reach the stereo very well cuz the shifter is so close.

**joski** · 01-21-2005, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by loud4u96

Im thinking about getting a carputer here soon and i was wondering whats the cheapest and smallest mobo i can get and all componets do i need to finish the project?

Depends on the type of setup you want.. mini-ITX boards are like 17cm x 17cm and microATX boards are 9" x 9". I personally went with a mATX because I'm pretty flexable with overall size. The only problem I am facing is power when this all goes together.. miniITX boards generally have on-board power and they only REALLY need a smaller power supply hooked up to them. I'm just not a fan of 100% (nearly) integration.

DallasCamaro/Rob:
That sounds amazing! I wouldn't mind buying something like that to integrate my controls in my PC instead of having knobs. It'd make for a much cleaner install! Definately keep us posted with that!