AC Resto

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The 71 is coming along. I’m to the point of replacing the leaky heater core and repairing the AC. At some point the condenser and lines were robbed. Do I send the AC compressor out somewhere and have it rebuilt? Or do you just buy a new one? Are there rebuild kits available? If so, are they hard to rebuild? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 
If you are good with tools and following instructions you can order the rebuild kit and do the compressor yourself. 

When you remove the dash and start to remove the heater box be sure you get the rubber drain hose unhooked before you unbolt the box from the firewall. Many get broken because they did not know it was there. 

When you get a new heater core put rubber hose on the ends and plug one side and put about 15 lbs. of air pressure on it and put in water to check for leaks. I have had two out of the box be bad. Will make your day if you spend days getting it all back in and it leak again.

You can take the AC evaporator to an AC shop and have them flush and test it. You will be getting and new condenser and dryer and lines sounds like.

Of course you have to use the green O-rings to use the new refrigerant. I myself use DuraCool that is produced in Canada and is available in U.S. but not approved. It is the most efficient refrigerant on the market. Will cool pretty close to max with just one can but might need a little more. 

If you have never worked on AC read up on it and watch video and get a copy of the Ford manual. 

When you do your heater AC box rebuild you will need a Foam rebuilt kit. There are doors inside the heater AC box that have foam coverings that go bad that need to be removed cleaned and the new foam installed. Be very careful when you remove the rods that the doors attach to. You need something to place around the rod and let the case sit on to tap the rods out. Wire brush, blast or soak to remove the rust. I have found that if I take a 3/16" drill bit and run in and out of the channels in the doors it goes back together much easier. I spray the rods and doors with clear just to stop any rust again. 

The case can be made to look new by spraying with satin clear. You will need to put some strip calk between the two halves to seal them back up. 

Depending on how good your dash is and if there are any issues you might want to remove the whole dash. There is another current thread with some info on that. This is another of the Snowball jobs that just keeps growing. All of the duct works should be removed and washed out to get the years of crud out. 

Be sure you put a piece of 1/4" box mesh wire between the cowl and heater box to keep critters out. Also I add to the underside of the cowl vent plastic grills and put pieces of stainless steel pot scrubber pads in the drains on each side of the cowl to block all the entries. 

If you do not have a vacuum pump and the charging gauges for the AC they cost less than one visit to a shop. I just got a set at Harbor Freight and works fine. 

You do have to install the new size charging ports to your lines. As long as you have the manuals and enjoy working on the car you can do it all yourself. There are several threads on the forum if you search for them. 

I did my Mach 1 back in March and my vert couple years ago. 

I put small amount of anti seize on all the threaded connections so they do not freeze up so bad. Do not get inside the lines or connections just a bit on the threads. Also put compressor lube of mineral oil on all of the O-rings when you go back together.

 
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