Question:
I'm about to start reassembly of my '62 GT after a
frame-off and have been wondering if I can convert the air
conditioning to the new R134a gas? Has anyone had any experience
doing this? The R12 is almost nonexistant and is toooooo much money!
Answer:
The old original York or Tecumseh
compressors are dinosaurs; they take gobs of power to turn and vibrate
like crazy while putting a lot of stress on water pumps, brackets,
etc. They also tend to want to lock up and are generally a pain in
the ass. When asked to perform in a 134a system they get even worse.
Unless the car is a show car I always toss them (or shelve them) for a
Sanden unit. The difference is like night and day. There are
reasonably priced adapter brackets to mount a Sanden where a York has
been; I get mine from Classic Auto Air in Tampa Fl. because they are
close and know what they are doing. They also have just about
anything for older air conditioning systems and custom build systems
and components. In all the years I have worked on cars I have seen
only one failure of a Sanden compressor; I have seen dozens of Yorks
with rods poking out, sripped threads and broken bolts from vibration,
leaky front seals and head gaskets, busted reed valves, etc
