AC Rebuild - Part 1 - 08/29/2015

I like AC. Most previous owners of my cars don't though. I'm tired of spending a fortune for subpar work, so I'm going to learn how to do it myself. I have the factory service manual and the right tools, what could go wrong? 1973-1976 cars used a Valve In Receiver (VIR) setup that supposedly is very efficient and tuned great, when you use R12. They haven't been calibrated for R134a, so I'll likely stay with R12 on this car and rebuild everything.



Need to remove the compressor to determine what's going on internally. A pressure gauge showed 5psi in the system, so I evacuated it and opened it up. Factory hoses use crimps, not worm gears.



Typical GM A6 compressor issue: the front seal fails and slings oil all over the engine compartment, notably here on the hood insulation.



Cut off condenser line, you can see how much the worm gear eats into the rubber.



The VIR fitting from the compressor is removed. I hope this is a compression fitting as there's no o-ring here...



Compressor is removed to give us clearance to work. These 2 hoses will rebuilt using the original manifold fittings after a thorough cleaning. NEW barrier hoses will be installed.



Side benefit of removing the compressor is just how much room you get back. Time to remove the remaining hard lines.



Line from VIR to condenser is removed. It has rust particles in it...



VIR assembly is disconnected and ready to remove.



VIR is removed.



The fitting on the back has grit and dirt all over the o-ring. Either the desiccant bag has failed or someone didn't clean the fitting the last time they worked on it...



Removing the 2 fittings that hold the outer box shell to the firewall.



None of the pictures came out naturally. I split the AC box and cleaned it out internally. The evaporator looks good. I'll have to apply some more putty tape to the gaps to seal the box back up because no one makes a kit for it.

Not bad, have some work to do. The hoses are marked as Dayco Freon Barrier and are 5/8" ID and 1/2" ID. These translate to #12 and #10 AC hoses, readily available along with the ferrules to crimp them back on.

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Last updated August 29th, 2015