Can fabricators out there help me with an ac line/tubing question?

I've done a bit of residential and commercial AC. And a tiny bit of auto AC. I think what you're describing is far more complicated than you or I want to handle.

I'm fairly sure you need EPA certificate to do car AC work. Might have changed. used to be section 609. Not that I'm going to tell anyone.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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My question is I have had a 1990 mustang. It was the first car I bought by myself and sits in the garage mostly.

The ac went out. I am considering converting to 134-a. I know performance goes down as compared to r-12.

My thought ot help this is to install a "universal" parallel flow condensor.The problem is, the inlet and outlets are in different spots.

To make a long story short, I would like to learn how to make my own ac hoses. I have access to a hydraulic crimper at work.

However, some of my lines are metal with barrier hose in between. Upon looking at my truck (1996 silverado), I noticed the line going from evaporator to condensor (I assume this is the liquid line) is metal tubing.

Question: Can I fabricate an ac line out of metal? Can I use brake line? Double flared line?

I know some have to be rubber. I can get barrier hose.

Can I purchase fittings for the spring lock ends and solder it to tube?

I appreciate your help!

You can run r12 auto air cons on a mixture of propane and butane (R290,R600a),in most of Australia you need no licenses to use hydrocarbons but you get fined if you release R12 or R134a to atmosphere (not sure of English regs) You can use the same hoses as the R12 And probably the same oil. Don't be put off be the naysayers (dangerous etc). If you run your car on lpg you have 80 or so litres of the stuff in the boot the air con will have 350 or so grams A propane butane mix is sold commercially for the purpose but there are other ways to get it,You will need a vacuum pump and gauges and a bit of research most of which you can get on the web if you sift out the naysayers poopooing .Most professionals are agin it as it affects their livelihood. Coke and pepsi use butane in their drink coolers and heaps of continental small fridges and freezers run on the same stuff (so does your cigarette lighter)

I was reading recently in a publication aimed at the car repair industry about the new AC systems and the new refrigerants. One of them is slightly flammable. The article discussed flammable refigerants and the reason they are not used is because of fear of a fire in the passenger compartment from a leak. The refigerants are regulated in the USA to not be flammable. One of the work arounds discussed to flammable refrigerants is to use a heat exchanger that circulates a non flammable fluid in the passenger compartment. This lowers effiency which lowers gas mileage. If it was my car and I was sure of the intregrity of the AC system I would use propane. Maybe put a hydrocarbon alarm in too, if it was cheap enough. Eric

Why convert? You can still find R-12 if you look.

Gives you all the parts needed to do the job correctly the first time.

134a with the right oil is a drop-in on the old Mustang. The lines need to be the rightsize - and are generally aluminum, not steel. You do need rubber line for flex, and the aluminum needs to be properly supported. Many older "aftermarket" kits used virtually all rubber hose. Some vehicles did use steel - but for some reason the lines leaked after a few years exposure to salt etc. My Mystique was a case in point - the reciever dryer rusted through in short order. Replacement was aluminum. I have also seen copper line used - braze it - don't solder.

I have aluminum brazed aluminum lines as well - both fab and repair.

Why, when 134A and other "approved" "drop-in" refrigerants are available at reasonable cost?

Terribly expensive stuff, no matter where you get it.

On May 31, 6:59=A0am, stryped wrote:

I've done some auto A/C work, just about every part you need is available online. The problem is why the A/C went out in the first place. If you had the compressor disintegrate("black death"), you've got a long and expensive job ahead of you, all the lines will have to be properly flushed or replaced, the compressor and accumulator will have to be replaced, maybe condensor and evaporator as well. Don't use a "universal" part when the real deal is available, Mustang parts are all out there. You could probably fit a later year evaporator and condensor for R134a, if you want to get that OC about it. Ford uses those garter-spring quick connects, the o-rings get hard on those and leak. I had one vehicle where they were all hard as rocks, it's was no wonder the charge leaked out. Replacement of all of those is a prime item on the list, get the green jobbies. R134a vs R12 has been hashed out all over the net, my advice would be to go with R134a since you can get it off the shelf. The loss of performance is minor. If your system is flat right now, you can do the mechanical work yourself without any possible legal problems with bleeding off Freon into the air. You will need a very good vacuum pump or at least access to one. Last recharge I did, I left the pump on for 8 hours before all the moisture left the system. Was still a good vacuum after leaving it overnight, so I proceeded to recharge. Cool is nice this time of year. There's a Haynes book on A/C work that's good, I've got the paper copy, I have seen it out there in the web somewhere. Has charge weight tables, pressures and oil charge volumes by make/model/year. Which, if you go with non-standard components, you'll never know.

I've found that a good U-Pull-It is a good place to get those A/C parts that are either really expensive or unavailable. I've paid as little as $7 for a compressor and clutch, I just needed the clutch coil. Hoses can be had and flushed both directions if your originals are in sad shape. I've had those gratis with other parts, they're usually just whacked and left in pieces in the vehicles when they're crushed.

Legally, if you've got refrigerant left in the system, you should go to a shop to get the charge drawn before opening the system. Haven't heard of anybody getting a ticket or going to jail over bleeding off refrigerant, but the law IS on the books.

Stan

More efficient, and in countries like australia you can not use those refrigerants without a license and the hydrocarbons have been used widely enough to determine that they are not as dangerous as the naysayers claim.

You may need that to buy refrigerant in quantity, but if you don't....

12 oz cans of R134a are off the shelf items, at least here in CO. You'd need said certificate for getting the really big canisters from the likes of NAPA. Fortunately, 3 cans are a full charge for my current buggy and run $8 a can at the moment(anybody remember 79 cent cans of R12?). Mechanical parts can be had anywhere with no license/ waiting period/fingerprints or government noseys. Tooling up for one A/ C overhaul can be spendy, those $40-$100 tools start adding up. Some of the chain parts places have free tool loans, though. Took $300 worth just to get the compressor out and disassembled for bearing replacement the first time I did it. A leak sniffer is a handy thing to have, some areas are really tough to get a UV lamp into for the dye check. A do-it -yourself's only expensive at first glance, some of the mobile A/C service joints will get $1000-3000 if they have to do a complete flush and compressor replacement. Lotsa labor in that job, plus a chance of failure if they didn't get all the gunk flushed out and they get to do it all again. Plan on driving something else for a week or so while you flush lines and replace bits and pieces. And don't get in a hurry. It all has to be done correctly or the works disintegrates and you end up doing it again until it IS right.

Stan