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Topic: AC Evcaporator Dilema (Read 4455 times) previous topic - next topic

AC Evcaporator Dilema

I just received a new evaporator from Late Model Restoration and the  thing doesn't match the evaporator that came out of the car.  The new one is too big to fit.  WTF????  I bought an evaporator off Vinnie before I bought this one.  His evaporator was the same dimensions as the one that arrived today and wouldn't fit either.  He was nice enough to take it back from me. 
My car has ATC.  I wonder if ATC cars use smaller evaporators than manual temp control cars, or something.  I just don't understand this.  It shouldn't be this hard to find an evaporator that fits.  :(
William

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #1
There was a factory ford NOS evaporator the other day on Ebay for our cars. It was less than $50.00 plus shipping.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #2
I'm nervous about trying to buy it Vinnie.  I'm afraid it won't fit for whatever reason.
William

Pics

Reply #3
So you can see what I'm dealing with here, I attached pics comparing the evaporator that came out of the car with the new one that's supposed to fit, but doesn't.  The pictures clearly show that the old evaporator is taller than the new one.  What might not be so clear from the pics, is that the old evaporator is a good half inch thinner than the new one.  The old one is also about an inch shorter (lengthwise) than the new one. 

I'm shocked I'm the first person here to have these problems:considering how many guys here have replaced their evaporators.  My car is a Turbo Coupe and the only thing I can think of that would cause all these problems is the fact the car has ATC.  I've seen it said before on here that our cars are supposed to use the same evaporator that Stangs use.  That must only be the case if you have a MTC-equipped T-Bird, or Cat.
William

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #4
Hrmmm...I've never heard of a difference before.

FWIW, I did a quick check and discovered that, at least on Auto Zone's and O'Reilley's sites, there is a different part number for a Cougar/T-Bird vs. a Mustang.
Don't know anything beyond that.

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #5
I don't know about the evap but when I replaced my heater core it did not want to fit either. I had to do some serious rednecking to get it to work properly but it wasn't nearly this bad.... This doesn't seem right. If your parts store carries them in stock, I would ask them to bring me a Mustang one and a Tbird one and see if either one are the right size before buying...
--Steve
[thread=28690]1988 Cougar V6[/thread]
2012 F-150 3.7L
2011 Mustang 3.7L

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #6
Quote from: EricCoolCats;365489
Hrmmm...I've never heard of a difference before.

FWIW, I did a quick check and discovered that, at least on Auto Zone's and O'Reilley's sites, there is a different part number for a Cougar/T-Bird vs. a Mustang.
Don't know anything beyond that.

Thanks for looking that up Eric.  That has to be my problem.  I read that Stangs and our cars use the same evaporators so many times, I took it as gospel.  They MUST be different.  I hope anyone who plans on replacing one in the future sees this thread and saves themselves all this grief.  At least I know now what the problem was.

THANK YOU Eric!

My local Auto Zone can have one there for a T-Bird in 2 days.  That's what I'm gonna do.  That way I can take the old one with me to verify the new one matches.
William

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #7
Well, I did some digging and found out that our cars take a Ready-Aire 6119N Evaporator.  Other companies like Everco sell it under the part# 54551.  Be warned!  Everco part# 54531 evaporators DON'T fit our cars.  Advance Auto and Auto Zone seem to only carry evaporators (part# 54531) for Mustangs.  They claim they will fit our cars, but the will not.  Thanks to Vinnie's help, I found out that Ready-Aire 6119N Evaporators are available on Ebay for less than $40!  These units are designated as fitting T-Birds, Cougars and Mark 7's.  When I checked this part# for fitment on Mustangs, I got a "will not fit" reply, so that must be the right part.

Thanks again guys for your help.  I'm SO glad it looks like this problem is solved.  What a night mare!
William

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #8
Only Ford, in its infinite wisdom, would put a different evaporator in a T-bird/Cougar/Mark VII than in a Mustang...
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #9
Quote from: 88 Blackbird 5.0;365504
Well, I did some digging and found out that our cars take a Ready-Aire 6119N Evaporator.  Other companies like Everco sell it under the part# 54551.  Be warned!  Everco part# 54531 evaporators DON'T fit our cars.  Advance Auto and Auto Zone seem to only carry evaporators (part# 54531) for Mustangs.  They claim they will fit our cars, but the will not.  Thanks to Vinnie's help, I found out that Ready-Aire 6119N Evaporators are available on Ebay for less than $40!  These units are designated as fitting T-Birds, Cougars and Mark 7's.  When I checked this part# for fitment on Mustangs, I got a "will not fit" reply, so that must be the right part.

Thanks again guys for your help.  I'm SO glad it looks like this problem is solved.  What a night mare!

Keep us posted on the final outcome....great reference information.
tbirdregistry.com
26480
27373

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #10
I agree Thunderjet.  It's crazy that Ford would complicate things like that unneccessarily.

Rod, the one I bought off Ebay should be here this week.  I'll definitely let you know how it works out.
William

Update

Reply #11
Well...  I went to a boneyard today that had an 88 Cougar and learned something the hard way.  I pulled the dash out of it and removed the top half of the HVAC box, because the lid that covered my evaporator is too small to cover the hole I cut to try and fit the larger evaporator into my HVAC box.

When I got home with the top half of the Cougar's HVAC box, I could see that it was different than the one my TC came with.  The HVAC box from the Cougar appeared to be properly sized to accommodate the Mustang-style evaporator I sent back to Late Model Restoration.  Apparently, T-Birds and Cougars with manual temperature controls use a different evaporator than Cats/Birds with automatic temperature controls.  The Cougar I found today had manual controls.

Ain't that some Sh•t????

I'm gonna have to head back out tomorrow and hunt for an ATC-equipped Cat/Bird.  :(
William

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #12
Then I'll have to re-sell mine. WOO-HOO !!!!
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #13
I saw that you already created an ad for it on the big Stang forum.  :)
William

AC Evcaporator Dilema

Reply #14
So Electronic Climate Control equipped T-birds and Cougars used the Mark VII style evap and regular T-birds and Cougars used the Mustang style evap? I *guess* that makes sense.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.