I made the title a question because maybe I am doing something wrong but I don't think so. I ordered an aftermarket evaporator for my 1980 El Camino. At first looks out of the box it looked like the OEM one. This is a project truck so this was about a year ago. I am now at the point of putting the A/C box back together. I placed the evaporator into the box and put the top back on. Ths top would not sit down on the bottom half of the box like its supposed to. I checked to make sure nothing was in the way and tried again. Still wouldn't fit down. So I put the old evaporator back in and MAGIC it went down all the way like it was supposed to. So I compared the two evaporators a little more closely. Appears that the aftermarket is a bit more square on the sides where the individual tanks are put together. The OEm one is much more rounded on the edges. The a/c box is shaped on the bottom and on the top to form more to the rounded edges. Since the evaporator lays on it side the aftermarket being a little more square will not fit down into the curves of the box making it sit a little higher in the box. Then putting the top on, that also is formed to the curves, makes the top sit so high there is about and inch gap between the top half and bottom half of the A/c box. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there maybe a difference in A/C boxes between the year? Is there a place and part number where I can get one that is the correct shape for my 1980? Thanks

Does this one look right?

https://www.ackits.com/pc/27-30441/Chevrolet80elcamino-malibu5-7/27-30441+-+Evaporator+Core

Looks exactly like the one in my 78.

Does this one look right?

https://www.ackits.com/pc/27-30441/Chevrolet80elcamino-malibu5-7/27-30441+-+Evaporator+Core

Looks exactly like the one in my 78.

That's the right one since I had to order a few items from them in Az. Great service and fairly quick as I remember. Michael in Virginia (my car is a 80 also)

Thanks. That was does look more like the original. I will have to give them a try. Thanks for the assist guys.

My word. I type and spell like a 4th grader and I am 53 yrs old. I need to proof read my stuff before submitting it. :P

My word. I type and spell like a 4th grader and I am 53 yrs old. I need to proof read my stuff before submitting it. :P

What was do you mean? :dontknow:

Everybody makes typos occasionally. I often spend more time editing my posts than typing them and I still miss dumb mistakes. It's all good. :beer:

BTW, rangomr is right. The folks at ACkits.com (Arizona Mobile Air) are great to deal with. I source a lot of parts from them. They also sponsor www.autoacforum.com It's the best MVAC forum that I've found for DIYers. Check it out.