Aircon removal and fitting

[Rusty]

Hey guys i am wanting to swap the airconditiong (every part needed) from one vl to the other.

Is it worth the hassle trying to install it myself or should i just pay someone to do it? I can do most things on car's but never been keen on touching the aircon for obvious reasons.

What is a decent price if i remove all the aircon bits and take it to someone to install it for me.

Also, do all car's that came without aircon have all the black plastic type venting throughout the dash?

Cheers for any advice guys

[PanthaVS]

changing the system over is the easy part, you should be able to unbolt, remove, and re-install onto the new vehicle... BUT... I suggest you bleed the system of refrigerant first. from memory (without going to my car) it is refrigerant R134, which is non-toxic, BUT will starve the air of oxygen, so when you bleed it... do it in a WELL ventilated area or you will sufficate!!!

Once it's all installed on the new car, take it to an aircon specialist (mechanic who does re-gassing) and get them to leak check, then purge the system, and then regass it for you.

[one_and_only2004]

There's a fine for releasing refrigerant into the atmosphere - the epa doesn't give you much change from $20,000 from memory. Probably best to get an air con specialist to do it.

[PanthaVS]

that is true... get the system de-gassed.... then YOU do the change over.... and then take it back for re-gassing. :P

[Rusty]

Cheers for the info guys - interesting stuff! Problem is that the car with the aircon is getting stripped and nowhere near driveable. I wonder how the aircon specialists remove the gas without letting any escape? That'd be why they are the specialists and i'm the shitkicker i suppose!

[PanthaVS]

they use a special manifold set (its portable), it looks like the top of a set of oxy bottles, with 3 hoses, 2 handles and 2 gauges. ... either that or a special rig that does it all automatically.