I finally got my 79 a week ago. It's a great car, runs great short of the carb needing a good clean and tune. But one of the past owners gutted the old AC system. Only thing left is the blower that doesn't work, not even leftover hoses... I live in Texas and it gets a little warm in the summer.

Anyone know if I can find a full r134 kit? All I've been able to find is conversion kits and retrofits.

And any tips for a first time vett owner trying to do this install? I'm a fairly decent hobby mechanic but I've never tackled a big project like this before.

Thanks

 

Welcome to the forums. Congratulations on the new ride. Looks as if the damage is already done to the HVAC system. Finding all original parts would be a challenge, and it's a R-12 system. A/c kits like vintage air like be something to look into, they are set up for the R-134. I have heard they work well. I think it could be something you could install yourself, they used to have good instructions which makes it fairly easy. Let me know about any questions you might have..

 

On the other hand you can part and piece it back together, lots of a/c parts around just takes a lot of hunting, If you have all the vent parts inside the car, that would be the deciding factor for me.

 

Try and find someone parting out a close year car. The conversion to 134 is O rings and poppet valves if I remember correctly. The hoses and compressor aren't refrigerant specific.

 

Welcome to the forum.
I ordered my '73 without A/C and after about a year learned to regret that decision. I locally found a wrecked '73 and stripped all the necessary parts from it and installed them in my car and basically had a working factory system.
The problem with using R134a in a R12 system is that the R12 system from the factory does a poor job of cooling the car on a hot summer day. Since R134a is a less efficient refrigerant that also requires higher pressures and a very much larger condenser, just swapping out the O-rings and oil in the system is not enough. While it might cool, they will not keep you very cool on a hot summer day.

Good luck.