73shark said: One option would be if you do not care about originality, would be to convert it completely with a Vintage Air system. I don't know how expensive that would be but it would certainly be more efficient than adding R134a to the current system.
If you do decide to convert it to R134a, make sure you get somebody that knows what they're doing to do it and does it right. First they need to remove all of the oil because the R134a oil is not compatible with the R12 oil. They should also replace the two charging ports with R134a type charging ports. That way there will not be a question in the future of what's in the system.
Just had my '77 rebuilt (engine redone with Edelbrock intake manifold and .183 aluminum heads, FlowMaster ceramic coated block hugger headers, Johnny Winter 700R4 tranny, custom mod transmission tail bracket, dual electric fan aluminum radiator, stereo, motorized telescoping antenna, analog clock, other goodies too numerous to mention).
Also had Vintage Air installed.
Cost me about $1700 just for the kit, plus labor (my mechanic cuts me a break on labor). With that being said, my mechanic told me that Vintage Air is not really made for C3's younger than 1976. Another words, for my '77, he bought a '76 kit and then did the modifications needed for it to fit (couple of brackets/duct work/center console mods for the control unit). He did the mods while the dash was completely removed (which is needed when Vintage Air is installed).
He has installed Vintage Air kits to all years of C3's (and other classic cars) knowing they would need the mods...that's why tons of people take their cars to him. He even called Vintage Air to let them know that their kits do not 'exactly' fit C3 Corvettes after '77. They told him that in 1978, the A/C unit installed on factory C3's proved to be much better. I guess Vintage Air didn't feel the need to engineer units to fit later model C3's.
Having an '82, I would tend to agree, but who's to say! Knowing my mechanic could put a Vintage Air system in my '82 now, I would do that if I was keeping the car (yes, it's for sale).
In the end, Vintage Air should fit any C3 from 1968 to 1976...with little or no major mods. Getting a Vintage Air system into a '77, and later, well, lets say you make sure your mechanic is truly a Corvette/Vintage Air guy.
|UPDATED|8/27/2018 5:01:21 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|
______________