Well as you can tell from the pictures, my engine bay needs a lot of work, most exterior and interior work is done that doesn't cost too much so now I'm off to the engine bay.

My A/c does not work and I know for a fact that the compressor doesn't function properly. My question is, how much can I pull off without having an A/C delete box. I want to get rid of radiator and lines as much as possible, to make it look a lot cleaner and easier to repaint the whole thing.

I do not know the names of these parts so bear with me...

I want to remove from here...

To here

Now theoritcally couldn't I just plug up this hose here? Right after the A/C box



Lastly....I removed this plug because the condenser was going on when the heat was turned on causing the belt to go sparatic and make crazy noises. Is it important?

 

I took everything off mine except the compressor,cheaper to keep it,I got rid of the lines evap and radiator(there was a pile of leaves 1 foot high between the two rads...put in a 180 tstat and now she runs waaaay cooler plus it got rid of some weight.Since my system was dry anyway i didnt have to discharge it,it made it look clean and im gonna paint my pulleys next after cleanin some leaves out of the corners

 

You sound like you are on the same route I am, my question is, what did you do with that bottle looking thing? Can you just leave it open?

Pics would do me wonders man. Then I would understand...

 

i just got a plastic cap with some silicone or can use somethin like that and cover the hole...the evap should loosen up with a wrench on the nut between the cannister and the firewall,,remember to pull all the lines too,,makes it way cleaner//or you can use anyting to plug the hole..and i just left the connector hooked to the compressor and the one at the bottle just hangin.The only thing i didnt take off is the ring at the bottom of the bottle,,personal choice

 

i just took everything out, i ended up getting an a/c delete box, theres more room now. but if you want to keep the same box, just take the top off of it then you will be able to remove the silver canister and all the hoses and a/c compressor.

what you'd have to do it find a was to plug that vertical hole where the silver canister is coming out of.

plus if you have a v-belt car, from what i told you DONT need an a/c delete pully, you just need a smaller belt

 

Lookin at the rust in your bay just get some spray on rust converter to turn it black,,thats what i did..then painted it with heat resistant( hi temp) paint,,trust me its easier that stripping.

 

Thanks guys with all the help.

Sounds like a plan, and I want to go further in the future I can get the heater box later on. My car has a serpentine belt setup so I'm going with just the pulley.

Will try some light sanding then hit it with a rust converter and repaint some of my pullies and clean up the engine bay a little bit, darn New England weather takes a beaten on the cars.

 

I got a serpentine but it is the same principal...i got a 92 1/2 belt but that was to bypass the AIR pump..same length should work to delete compressor,just look for a thread on how to route belt.

 

AWWWWWWWWW!!!!! A PATS FAN!!!...GOOOOOOOOO STEELERS!!!!...i found that the rust gave a texture for the paint to hold on to after i sprayed it with converter but im no expert,then again red wire looms for the plug wires and blue for vac lines will take the eye away from that.

 

Actually I despise the Pats, I'm an Eagles fan...

I will attempt it this weekend, and will post pictures after I am done of before and after.

 

nothin wrong with the Eagles,,i just have an ex in philly..so...anyway..like to see pics as you go along...question..do you have any pics of the brackets on your power steering pump?..i took a loose 1 off and i dont even know if its complete,,the previous owner didnt take care of the bay too well..thanx

 

Just get a shorter belt and an a/c delete box and rip everything out. Just extra weight. If I recall mine was about 40 lbs total. Belt routing's simple if you draw it and picture which way things need to turn.

 

Heres a pic for ya...



I'm 16...delete box is 150 bucks plus the fan, and a used one will run be about 75 to 100. To me it just doesn't seem to be worth it as of right now. The I'm just running a pulley because my belt is brand new, so why waste it on a new belt, at least I can sell a pulley in the future.

 

thanx for the pic!!!,thats what i needed to see,,,just keep everything you take off..the rad,compressor will always be worth some money..i sold mine for like $100

 

Took it out, it was a PIA to get the pulley in, it wasn't probably threaded so I had to put in a grade 8 bolt from homedepot with a nut and some washers to make it work.







I notcied the front of the car was raised up more than usual, that compressor is extremely heavy!!

 

Looks good. I left that top bolt out and took off the bracket too. The pulley weighs nothing, so its not needed IMO.

The compressor feels like 40 lbs, but mine weighed in at 14.5 lbs.

 

Yes its like a bowling ball. But I thought you guys would like to see my current pictures of my engine compartment, I spent 24 hours sanding, wire wheeling, and painting both sides, I had done the front part of the engine bay the weekend before. Will get to the back hopefully next year when its warmer. Then I will move on to polishing the different parts which is a . You shouldve seen how they painted it when i got it, they just like sprayed it on and it was so half assed.






It looks 100 times better than the rust there before.

 

That's doing it the costly way... It's even easier (and less expensive without having to buy an A/C delete pulley) to just get rid of the compressor, brackets and all. And then you can take the aluminum from the condenser, evaporator, and the compressor bracket to a scrap yard and get back some of the cost for the replacement heater box and belt.

Like this. I found the A/C delete box hanging almost loose (except that one freakin' bolt ) on a completely unoptioned '84 4-banger Camaro, that I got my replacement door from. Luckily the fan motor still works even though I'm sure it got wet a few times in the rain (blasted thing costs TWICE as much as an A/C blower motor!)...

:edit: BTW, where is it $150 for the heater box plus fan? Got mine for $30 WITH the fan (new motor that's going in is $35 though).

 

How much for scrap can you really get for these? I have no junkyard around me with even ONE third gen. So my luck is to find one on ebay or here and they aint cheap. Maybe in the future I will just get a smaller belt but it is find for now

 

It varies. Different scrappers have different rates. It also depends on how much other stuff you have to get rid of. I think I got ripped when I brought in a whole bucket of aluminum (alternator brackets, 2 fuel rails, the A/C compressor bracket, I think, my old broken upper plenum), my old radiator, and 2 car batteries and got $18 and change. But that was the small stuff too... I still have my condenser and evaporator (both aluminum), a magnesium rim I can't use nor sell (don't ask because it's a six lug and I didn't find out until it arrived here), and a huge container of scrap steel and cast iron (exhaust manifolds from my 3100 setup) that easily weighs about 80+ pounds. Not to mention the spare 2.8 engine block I have in my garage as well (mocking up the 3100 setup) at 105 pounds plus a spare 2.8 crank and a couple con rod/piston assemblies. Too bad I think I have a gas leak right now, or that stuff would be GONE.

 

Aaw hell I'm bumping this thread!

I'm doing the same thing right now on my car, removing everything up until the canister right after the A/C box. I've got a couple of questions, then I know everything I need to know!

What did you use to plug the hole from the A/C box?
Did you cut all wires/connections that was previously connected to the A/C systems? No re-wiring needed?

Did you just take the belt of, remove the compressor, mounted the delete pulley (btw is a new bracket included?), put the belt back on and you're ready to go?

Would be great if someone could answer these questions. I've been searching and reading maaany threads about this but never really found an answer to these questions. Here in sweden it's impossible to get a delete-box, so I'm going for the same thing musclecar201 did on his car (leaving the A/C box and removing everything going from it).

 

I didn't even plug the whole in my car, doesnt seem to affect it so I didn't bother. I just cut the lines with a sawzall and crimped it as tightly as I could. I didn't cut any of the connections, I left them their just in case someone would want A/C in the future, plus it kinda looks hack.

I just removed the compressor, with the bracket and brought it out, you don't really have to take off the belt, jsut kinda gotta unbolt the compressor slide out. You'll understand me once you get started. The delete pulley should mount directly to the old brackets and you should need no new brackets. Then Slide the belt back on, if you have any other problems or question feel free to ask.

Also take a look at my picture above of the A/c delete pulley, it will give you an idea.

 

You will have to cut the connector off of the pressure switch mounted in the passenger's side A/C pipe and connect the 2 wires together to keep the radiator fan from running every second the ignition is on.

If you have a serpentine belt, don't waste the cash on an A/C delete pulley as you don't need it... All it takes is a simple remount of the power steering pump to get rid of the A/C parts without spending any extra money on a pulley setup (but you will have to buy an A/C delete belt).

 

I didn't cut that connector or connect the two wires and my radiator fan doesn't run all the time? Strange Seems to switch on and off fine.

 

Must be a problem in the system then... That switch is normally closed, it's when the pressure hits a certain level that the switch opens and the fan is supposed to come on with the compressor clutch. Which is why it's supposed to run all of the time with that switch disconnected unless you connect the 2 wires together. You can probably get away with it, others may not, which is why I posted.

Unless, of course, the FAN REQUEST wire is grounded, like it's supposed to be on a non-A/C system, to the back of the driver's side cylinder head.

 

OK, so today I threw away the A/C.

It felt good getting some extra space under the hood!





There's 2 lines going from the A/C-box. Should I just leave em like this or what? Doesn't feel right leaving them open like that.




I sealed all electrical connections and hid them nicely, so they should be ok. Now I just have to order a delete-pulley so I can get my belt back on and see if everything works. The noise from the old compressor should be gone, it irritated the hell out of me!

I hope I did everything right and that you guys can provide me with an answer to how I should seal the lines from the A/C-box.

 

It's not necessary to seal the lines. First, there is no refrigerant or oil in the evaporator, so there's no environmental impact. Second, the evaporator is made of aluminum, so it's not going to rust away.

 

If you say so. I'm thinking about plugging them anyways so it looks better. Gotta wait for the delete pulley to arrive, then I can fire up the bird again. My heater should be working like before even though some electrics are unplugged, right?

Looking forward to not hear the A/C compressor whine anymore when the delete pulley comes on

 

I sold mine on here for $50. That was considered a good deal for the buyer.

 

what i did was to use just some silicone and plug the line coming from the box with a plastic cap i had laying around....the other line is just part of the remaining system,i removed everything!..even then lines for the freon so that way you just have the lines from the heater box to plug,i kept the original compressor so i could run the belt on it,keep it as long as it works.The clutch will never kick in since there is a low pressure switch that has been disconnected,i still have great heat and can defrost without having my RPM'S jump up,i did remove my smog pump hence the need fore the compressor still in place..i kept all my wires intact in case i sell it the next guy will have all the connections.