Fire wall help, vintage air IV box?

[nsmall]

I bought my Cuda last summer and the fire wall was already cut. The guy who sold said he was setting it up for an AC.  The car came with a box.  The heater outlets seem to be missing or broken as they are not coming out of the box.

Based on the pics...

1. Is the firewall set up for an OEM AC box?
2. Is the box in the photos an OEM AC Box?
3. Would it be better for me to buy a Vintage Air AC/Heater box from Bouchiollon Performance Engineering vs restore this box as I know nothing about rebuilding the box, I dont care about stock appearance and one day I may add an AC?
4. What is the low end value of my box?  It seems pretty nice as I live in CA and its very dry here.
5. Assuming my firewall is cut accurately for an OEM AC and the box I have is an AC box and it matches up with my firewall, Any idea if the vintage air AC/Heat box will fit just like an OEM AC box would?

THANKS for reading and hopefully I can make sense of this.  I think I can get set up with a vintage air AC/Heat box and everything that goes with it minus the AC parts for around $800-$900, does that sound right?  Any idea of how to get a discount from Randy at Bouchiollon Performance.  Heard they are good to work with.

Thanks again.

[1 Wild R/T]

That is an OE box & the firewall has been cut but theres more to it than just citing the firewall... do you have the A/C only defroster duct? Then there's the duct to connect the three passenger side vents, the duct for the drivers side vent & the plenum.... It can be done but it'll be a challenge...

[FY1Cuda]

The box may be missing the heater core which would have the two brass pipes that stick into the engine compartment.  You can get a heater core for the box from NAPA or O'Reilly's, etc.  The firewall should have another oval hole next to the one shown (that's for the two AC lines). That hole would be for the heater inlet and outlet.
Like Wild said, you need the ducts: defroster, the ones to the center-top of the dash for the AC, and the ones to either end of the dash.  The duct to the driver's side is often missing. (your dash needs the center vents for factory AC).
Of course, you need all the AC stuff for under the hood.  If you don't have that stuff, you can (1) ignore the AC, get a heater core, and use the box as a heater only;
or (2) you can get a Vintage Air system.  If you opt for the Vintage Air, know that it isn't as plug-and-play as it sounds.  There is plenty of test fitting and options on how it is installed.
I put a VA system into a Challenger that was an original AC, but the car was using the AC box for a heater for years.  Good luck with your project.

[70chall440]

Not sure if you are missing the heater core or someone chopped off the tubes; either way you need a new one if you are going to try and use this. The Heater core tubes should exit the box next to the AC tubes (see my attached picture). That said, you are far better off going Vintage Air than trying to make the factory stuff work unless this is a very correct resto and you are after that.

[70chall440]

Neil - if you do not have one, pick up a factory service manual, you might be able to download one for free; you don't need one for your specific year, however you want 72-74 verses 70-71.