Air Conditioning removal

[fabio]

Hello Guys,
I just bought a 75'Vette and I'm still learning a lot about it.
I'm planing to remove the old ar conditioning system completely, do you guys have any tips I should be aware of? Do you know if there is a valve or drain where I can safely depressurise the system or should I just start unplugging hoses :ugh?

Thanks,
Fábio.

 

[fabio]

Me again,
Just came back to share some info I got:
I leared that is illegal to purge the gas in the atmosphere, and there is huge fines for doing so, I'll get it purged in a AC Shop.

Thanks,
Fábio

 

[JohnZ]

What are you going to use for a heater and defroster after you remove the entire A/C system? :eyerole

 

[Artsvette73]

Why would you want to remove the A/C? I think come summer time you will regret it. These are very hot and uncomfortable cars to drive in the warmer weather.

 

[petes74ttop]

Ozone!

Hi Fabio, the gas in our old style A/C units was found to ruin the ozone so it's been replaced by something else.
I paid $ 75.00 per pound for over three pounds of that gas.
Some shops will pay you to remove yours.

Did someone say a Vette in the summer with no A/C is uncomfortable, we had 90* for two months in NC. For a car with a little interior they don't get that cold.
Pete.

 

[BarryK]

I have to ask WHY remove the entire system also? You a glutton for punishment? In the summer these cars get HOT on the interior and as JohnZ pointed out if you remove the entire system you also won't have heat and defrost in colder months.

In another thread you were taling about changes to the cooling system that didn't entirely make sense to do as you laid them out.
Maybe it would help to explain what your plans/goals are on this car so we can better understand what you are trying to accomplish and help you out more.

 

[fabio]

Hey guys come on, I live near Seattle! Summer here only lasts one week and the highs are around low 80's! So I'm not going to invest money in the AC that I would never use.

And the air conditioning take up too much space on the engine compartiment I want to be able to move in there, and what about dead weight... Definetely a goner...

About the heater, I'm assuming that I can keep the heater core and fan... I'm pretty sure I can't live without it in this weather. Is there any dependencies among the AC and the heater that I should know?

And dont worry Pete, the ozone is safe with me.
Barry, yes I am a gluton for punishment if you see how much work this vette needs you would understand that only one crazy guy like me would buy it.

Thanks a lot for the answers guys, this comunity rulez.
Fábio.

 

[bmotojoe]

Did you ever look up to see if that Microsoft campus owner didn’t extend there dome like bubble over the entire city of Redmond? Here in Renton it was a beautiful summer, at least I thought so.:L
Brian

 

[JohnZ]

And the air conditioning take up too much space on the engine compartiment I want to be able to move in there, and what about dead weight... Definetely a goner...

About the heater, I'm assuming that I can keep the heater core and fan... I'm pretty sure I can't live without it in this weather. Is there any dependencies among the AC and the heater that I should know?

It's an integrated system (like Windows ) - if you don't want/don't need the A/C functional, you can remove the compressor and refrigerant plumbing, but you need to leave the rest of the system (the firewall and interior portion) alone in order to have a working heater/defroster.

 

[fabio]

Oh man, I was halfway disassembling that ugly airbox in the engine compartment.
Thanks for the info!

Fábio.

 

[Phill]

Just remove compressor and brackets, hoses and accumalator. that should free up plenty of space. if you want to clean it up some more remove heater hoses and valve, but being in seattle you might want to keep the heater.

 

[LVMYVT76]

They make a a/c delete cover if you want to take the evaporator out. It's on ebay.
250181985 item number. $139.00

 

[fabio]

They make a a/c delete cover if you want to take the evaporator out. It's on ebay.
250181985 item number. $139.00

This is awesome! But too expensive, will go to the bottom of the todo list: Line number 340985234589.:ugh

Thanks for the tip
Fábio.

 

[Koop]

My AC is almost always on, these cars are ovens. I've had to get out of my car and take my shoe off because my foot was burning more than once.

The R134a conversion on my '69 was a bad choice, I'd should've kept the R12.

If you don't need AC and resale is no issue, dump it. But you will be sorry if you run out to Spokane in the summer, you have no idea how hot that car will get inside on an 80 degree day.

 

[minifridge1138]

if your car is that hot, are you sure your heater is off?
When i bought mine, the heater was stuck on. Turns out the valve that controls the flow of coolant to the heater box was stuck on. I removed it and put in a ball valve from the hardware store and i haven't had a toasty day since.

 

[73shark]

Just wait 'til an 80 degree day and it's raining so you have to keep the window up. It'll be like a sauna in there. That's what convinced me after I mistakenly ordered mine w/o A/C to put factory A/C in. Live and learn.

BTW, a recent study reported that the consensus of scientists that said freon was eating the ozone was wrong. Probably the same consensus that said back in the late seventies that the next Ice Age was only a few years away and we were going to run out of oil in 20 years. Don't even mention global warming. :bash

If consensus was science, then we'd be sailing off the edge of the flat Earth.

 

[Koop]

if your car is that hot, are you sure your heater is off?
When i bought mine, the heater was stuck on. Turns out the valve that controls the flow of coolant to the heater box was stuck on. I removed it and put in a ball valve from the hardware store and i haven't had a toasty day since.

My heater works fine, early C3's are saunas. I don't know if the '76 is as bad as a '69. The 1982 cars I've been in didn't have the heat intrusion issue of the early cars.

The dealer installed a shut off valve on a heater hose on my car around 1970 just to be sure nothing was getting into the core. It did nothing.

 

[minifridge1138]

i didn't realize that the heating system was one of the things that changed.

Have you tried adding insulation to the floor boards or wrapping the headers with insulation? Although the hooker website said that wrapping the headers would reduce the life expectancy.

 

[Koop]

I don't know what changed, but the newer cars are far more comfortable than the dinosaurs. I'm not going to wrap my headers, I'll just deal with the heat and crank the AC.