next week (my spring break) i am going to be getting shop time at my mechanics shop.. he's guna let me use his lift/tools/ etc to pull the HVAC system out of the IROC

I'm guna get rid of the AC compressor, hoses, freon tank, and the heater core, along with extra coolant lines, wires, and on and on...

--MY questions are as follows?

- Anyone who has done this before, how difficult is it? How long should it take? Is there anything i should look out for? Are there any steps or rules to follow when removing an A?C and heater unit? (I dont need heat, cars a spring-summer car, and i've used the A/C/ once .. 5 years ago).... therefore I want to get rid of all of it, mostly because I am going to be cleaning up and painting the engine bay of the car this summer, ...

-Dont i have to release the pressure on the freon tank, and depressurize the system.. also, what type of holes will be left int he firewall, and any recomendations to cover them, fill them, or whatever..

Any help is appreciated. -Dave

 

You don't have to release the Freon from the system. The responsible thing to do would be to take it to a shop that has recovery equipment and have the Freon removed. I was charged $30 last time I did that.

Even if you don't do that, you can remove the entire AC system intact. The compressor, condensor, evaporator, and all hoses can be lifted out after disconnecting everything. You'll have to pull the radiator, but you're removing the heater, anyway, so you'll have to drain the system first.

The best way to cover the hole would be with a non-AC system. Can we assume you want to keep the vent function?

 

interesting, thats somewhat what i was thinking.. i did not know i would have to pull the radiator though... how come? can you give more detail


na, i dont even want to keep the vent system, , i never never use it, and never plan on using it, so i want to get rid of all of the extra stuff in the engine bay... as i am going to be painting, detailing,a nd redoing lots of little things under the hood.... so i basically am going for an exposed firewall in that area.. a clean look, and easier access to headers, plugs, and less hoses over the valve covers

so.. any more advice would be appreciated.. thanks..
dave

 

I did the same thing as you, I took a hammer to my blower box, just evaporated

You will be left with two holes, a big circular one and a big rectangle one

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2145/dscf13557nf.jpg

^is an image of my engine that shows you what im talking about, I covered them up with duct tape because I really dont care how it looks. You will need to remove your radiator because there is a big radiator looking type thing in between your bumper and your normal radiator, its attached to the a/c system.

Its an EXTREMLEY easy process, you shouldnt worry at all.

One thing I will warn you about though, that goodwrench 350 you got.. MAKE SURE ITS ALLWAYS GOT OIL I blew up my goodwrench 350 because it had an oil leak that I didnt know about *its the block in that picture* So now im in the process of dropping a 4-bolt 79' block in it

Good luck, you shouldnt have any worries, its a beyond easy process.

 

alright, well ive done a bunch more research.. onlya few remaining questions...


will the wirees i remove throw the SES code?

what wires should or should i NOT remove?

-any advice as to waht type of plate, or whatever to put in place of the rectangle hole that will be left above the radio?

will the ECM suffer at all? need to be reprogrammed (prom) or anything?


(yea i check oil all the time, and change it every 1000 miles)

sounds liek an easy job to tackle, just hope i dont run into any Electrical Gremlins...oh jeez

 

awesome, so over my spring break, i tackled this project,

-i did most of it at night time after i worked construction in the daytime, so it took me a while, but it was better to be safe than in a rush

got the condensor, compressor, lines, evaporator, heater core, under dash plumbing temp control panel, all that out,, its all gone and in a few boxes.. weighs out to be about 62 lbs !

i also took a lot of time and moved around some of the non-sense wiring and hoses to cluttered up the engine bay.. made a batery tray, capped off some emissions tubes, degreased the engine bay, replaced the thermostat, and a buncha other things.. i took some pictures too, but havent uploaded them from my camera yet...

throughout the course of the project i documented 97% of it, almost everything, however one thing which i did not write, which i WISH i had.. is which bundle of wires i pulled out of each of the 3 relays.

----im talking abotu teh 3 relays in the cluster right by the master cyl.... one if for fuel pump, one for MAF, and one for A/C (i think, or Burn offf)

----and when i put them back on, (after hiding the wires better than the factory did) i wasnt sure between the two... I know i got the fuel pump one right, because, well my fuel pump runs,a nd i drove th car all day saturday... however, im Not sure which relay wires int he cluster i removed from the other 2 relays, bot plastic pieces fit in each of the 2 relay female ends..

sometimes when i plug one in it will make a loud BUZZZING sound , so i undo it and think its wrong, however i unplug it, and the code will light up.. CODE 34 for MAF, now i have checked the code and know about it in my 1987 Shop manual, yet everytime i think i reset it, it'll go off.. code 12, then 34,, ( i think 12 is the standard one tho...right????)

---so basuically everythign went really smooth and im really happy with having no HVAC system, (ive got tons mroe work to do to clean, polish, and arrange the engine bay, as well as have a brushed aluminum plate made up... yet, i just need to figure out this one code.. code 34, M.A.F.

anyone have any ideas on what couldbe setting it off.. (and ive disconnected the battery every time, to reset the code, but it still comes up... i think ihave the relays switched...

** and if anyone with an 87 IROC can tell me the color wires that go into the male relay for each realy, that wouldbe incredible, i definately could figure it out then

do u think i burned out the relay at all by plugging the wrong male relay in ?? is that possible???

Dave