Aftermarket AC

[davery]

My spider has an aftermarket AC that I want to take out. Has anyone every done this? Any potential issues?

Thanks!

[124JOE]

only the later models had AC
no i havent because i never had it(like most of us)
most of our cars are 82 and back
85.5 cars are very rare
when was yours made?

there shouldnt be an issue with removing it
just dont breeth the gases when venting the system

i would fix it!

[dmwhiteoak]

I would love to have one. Don't take it out , fix it.

[davery]

This is actually the 2nd 85 I have owned. I thought about keeping the AC, but have been told the seals are leaking and I have found no one able to repair. Add to the fact it takes the old refrigerant. I will probably just take out the unit inside the car and leave the rest in place. Maybe at some point I will purchase a new system.

[124JOE]

r134 will work in your system "im told" but needs new seals for it

[leftfield6]

New seals are an easy fix for any AC repair shop. As for needing the "old" refrigerant, I would look into changing to one of the R12 replacement brands instead of converting to R134. Your AC system was designed to work at the pressures required by R12, not the higher pressures needed by R134, Red-Tek makes a quality substitute for R12. Works great in my mid-80s VW Vanagon!!

http://www.redtek.com/home.html

[Texasbull]

I converted an R12 system to R134 (90 chevy truck). It's very simple. You need to flush the compressor and condensor and evaporator with a cleaning fluid sold for this purpose (not sure of the brand, but an auto store should be able to find what you need.) You'll need to have new hoses made with the correct fittings, cost me about $20 each back then, not too bad. You'll also need to replace the dryer and filter screen. All in all it cost me about $100 with new freon and parts and about a 1/2 day of labor, counting beer breaks. You will notice a slight less cooling because R12 condensors and evaporators are smaller due to R12 being more efficient, but it'll cool ya down better than nothing at all.