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240 A/C Restoration and Conversion to r134a in pre-1991 240

Wish the 93 system had a high side port. Vent temps on an 80* day are around 48-50*. Suspecting an underfill but that requires recovering and refilling with a big boi machine. Countofnowhere and I only had a gauge set to guesstimate with.
 
CodeNaked said:
Thanks for the write-up! I'm new to this and have a few questions. If I'm reading this correctly, this was (basically) a part-for-part upgrade in place of the pre-91 system with aftermarket parts, and not a retrofit to the post-91 setup, correct? Do you have the part numbers for the heater core, VDO blower, and resistor?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yea, it was (nearly) a complete restoration of the pre '91 system. The parts are listed above with many of their respective part numbers, but I'll list them here again from Rock Auto:

VDO PM3512 Blower Motor $ 35.79
WVE 4P1577 Blower Resistor $ 74.79
FOUR SEASONS 54603 A/C Evaporator Core $ 113.99
FOUR SEASONS 55594 A/C Refrigerant Hose $ 24.79
FOUR SEASONS 55992 A/C Refrigerant Hose $ 34.79
FOUR SEASONS 55998 A/C Refrigerant Hose $ 34.79
FOUR SEASONS 33264 A/C Receiver Drier $ 14.50
FOUR SEASONS 38607 A/C Expansion Valve $ 19.94
FOUR SEASONS 58521 A/C Compressor-new $ 278.89
BuyAutoParts 60-61242N A/C Condenser $ 64.41 (Amazon)

Now that I see this, I spent too much, but I also think the prices have gone up since I purchased these (the rush in demand). There was also a short hose I had made locally because it's not available for sale pre-made. I also bought a seal kit from 4-seasons, but all of the hoses came with extra (sometimes 4x). I purchased 4 cans of DuPont Suva from ebay $10 per can so I had extra and 8oz (only 6 needed) of UV dyed PAG46 oil per Sanden spec. I hope this helps!
 
Harlard said:
Wish the 93 system had a high side port. Vent temps on an 80* day are around 48-50*. Suspecting an underfill but that requires recovering and refilling with a big boi machine. Countofnowhere and I only had a gauge set to guesstimate with.
Click to expand...

Pay someone to braze a fitting to have a high side port. Source another high side line so you won't be without a/c. It's what I did.
 
240Redblock said:
Yea, it was (nearly) a complete restoration of the pre '91 system. The parts are listed above with many of their respective part numbers, but I'll list them here again from Rock Auto:

VDO PM3512 Blower Motor $ 35.79
WVE 4P1577 Blower Resistor $ 74.79
FOUR SEASONS 54603 A/C Evaporator Core $ 113.99
FOUR SEASONS 55594 A/C Refrigerant Hose $ 24.79
FOUR SEASONS 55992 A/C Refrigerant Hose $ 34.79
FOUR SEASONS 55998 A/C Refrigerant Hose $ 34.79
FOUR SEASONS 33264 A/C Receiver Drier $ 14.50
FOUR SEASONS 38607 A/C Expansion Valve $ 19.94
FOUR SEASONS 58521 A/C Compressor-new $ 278.89
BuyAutoParts 60-61242N A/C Condenser $ 64.41 (Amazon)

Now that I see this, I spent too much, but I also think the prices have gone up since I purchased these (the rush in demand). There was also a short hose I had made locally because it's not available for sale pre-made. I also bought a seal kit from 4-seasons, but all of the hoses came with extra (sometimes 4x). I purchased 4 cans of DuPont Suva from ebay $10 per can so I had extra and 8oz (only 6 needed) of UV dyed PAG46 oil per Sanden spec. I hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Now imagine if you had paid someone else to do the ac restoration. You didn't pay too much, you paid exactly what you needed and you still come out ahead. You could of found the compressor for cheaper but I think you wanted to make as few orders as possible.
 
white855T said:
Now imagine if you had paid someone else to do the ac restoration. You didn't pay too much, you paid exactly what you needed and you still come out ahead. You could of found the compressor for cheaper but I think you wanted to make as few orders as possible.
Click to expand...

I saw them cheaper, but after using the aftermarket re-seal kits on my own compressor and feeling that they were less than ideal, I figured I'd trust the industry leader with a new Chinese unit, vs. an ancient Japanese compressor that was sent to Sweden (or Nova Scotia in my case), sent to America, beaten to death...sent to China... torn apart by a Bangladeshi child...sent back in pieces to China...rebuilt and then sent back to America. I'd rather save my condenser from those fragments that would be imminent. But I did get a kick out of doing the rebuild myself, plus or minus the lackluster results...
 
white855T said:
Pay someone to braze a fitting to have a high side port. Source another high side line so you won't be without a/c. It's what I did.
Click to expand...

Gates makes fittings that can be crimped in-line that contains a high (or low) side port.

Woe betide anyone who needs an NLA 93 low side hose. I've never seen a stock one that didn't have cracked ferulles.
 
Wren said:
Gates makes fittings that can be crimped in-line that contains a high (or low) side port.

Woe betide anyone who needs an NLA 93 low side hose. I've never seen a stock one that didn't have cracked ferulles.
Click to expand...

Definitely an option too. If someone is using the stock setup, they probably don't have a crimper on hand.
 
Very cool. Shame you didn't photo-document the mod, always easier to read pics. I'm surprised though that you didn't ditch the expansion valve / drier & convert to orifice tube / accumulator. Typically much better cooling over time, since there is no expansion valve to bollocks the flow.
 
lookforjoe said:
Very cool. Shame you didn't photo-document the mod, always easier to read pics. I'm surprised though that you didn't ditch the expansion valve / drier & convert to orifice tube / accumulator. Typically much better cooling over time, since there is no expansion valve to bollocks the flow.
Click to expand...

I wanted to take more pictures, but I was too busy cursing my fat hands and bad back...

The orifice tube setup is actually less efficient in general, but especially when matched with a fixed output compressor. The TXV moderates flow mimicking a modern variable rate compressor. While an orifice tube is cheaper and easier, it would've required more modifications especially because I didn't have a donor for those hard lines that traverse the firewall, not to mention the modern firewall itself.
 
***Update****

Was working perfectly until about a month ago (after I sprayed her down at the Car Wash), noticeably warmer air and poor performance all around. Checked my sight glass, which had been smooth as glass, now full of bubbles...a leak! I didn't even need my dye glasses, the little hose from condenser to the receiver was soaked, so I tightened up both connections and ran it, two days later, same issues...

Decided I wasn't about to deal with all of this crap any longer, so I took it to THE A/C guys in town and had them build me a new hose, $100 later (and shame for spending so damn much on a stupid hose) I was ready to go again. The tech gave me a great note about condenser placement: The condenser on r134 systems should be right up against the radiator so that the mechanical fan will pull as much air as possible through it. So I did some light bending and a little banging and put some butyl tape between my condenser and radiator, but they are stuck together like pb & j, and I put my splash "guard" back on, probably should've done this a while ago... It was 115 degrees F yesterday and I was very comfortable, almost frozen when on the freeway. A note here about the condenser too: I wasn't sure about this product when I first purchased it because of how cheap it was, but seeing that it has almost no signs of damage despite my driving habits, and that the tech confirmed that it is parallel flow, I recommend it over some of the more expensive ones.

***Update***
 
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