York reproduction compressors question

[LithiumCobalt]

Only thing left to do is figure out how to replace the aftermarket tag on the compressor. Believe the original should look like this for a York. Of course, the part number would be different...

Have reached out to Marti Auto with an inquiry to see if they make these, but I doubt it. Other options are a reproduction sticker (won't look authentic) or find an original some place that isn't beat to hell (unlikely).

[George W]

FWIW, I just checked the aftermarket (Chinese) reproduction York compressor that I installed on my 67 Ambassador last summer. The bottom is completely dry and clean. No signs of leakage. The brand tag is labelled "Omega". The one I just received for the Lincoln appears identical in every way and is branded "Valeo". I'll be installing it within the next couple of weeks. At the moment I have to wait for my p/s pump to come back from LL.

[LithiumCobalt]

Hopefully I just got a bad one in the batch and that will be the end of it. I’ve been using the hell out of mine the past couple weeks. So far, so good.

[George W]

Got the new Valeo compressor installed today. Quite a chore. The contour of the head is slightly different so it caused some fitment issues with the rear adjusting bracket that bolts to the head studs. I had to enlarge the hole on the side of the bracket where the muffler bracket and the compressor wire clip is bolted to the side of the compressor. It's a very tight fit with little wiggle room. I would recommend following Nathan Wilson's video to not reinstall the inner rear retaining bolt that goes into the bottom of the compressor. I would also recommend starting ALL the attaching bolts before tightening anything and also not to reinstall the clutch/pulley until everything is bolted in place.
Lithium Cobalt shamed me into painting my compressor black to respect the look of originality rather than leaving it the natural aluminum. At least I painted it before putting it back on.

Some caveats to those of you who want to change out the compressors yourselves: First is the replacements have TubeO fittings on the head which superficially look like RotoLock but they're not. So, check your head ports. If the port is tapered and does not have the flat groove for the RotoLock teflon seals then you'll want TubeO to Rotolock adapters to drop into the head fittings. I bought mine on line and they're only a few bucks. These are little flanged metal adapters that look like little top hats. They take a O ring on the bottom and take the teflon RotoLock O rings on the top. They drop right in with no issues though you want to make sure the O ring you use isn't too thick in cross section. The other issue I ran into and, spent a lot of wasted time troubleshooting, was the compressor not being able to hold the vacuum overnight. It pumped down right away, but as is good practice, I closed the gauge set, shut off the vac. pump and left it sit overnight. The next morning the vacuum was gone. I had front seated the service valves to retain the charge that was already in the system. I thought the leak was coming from either the gauge set or the head fittings due to a possible issue with the Rotolock adapters not sealing properly. As it turned out it was the service valves leaking slightly at the shafts when the valves are front seated. On the advice of a friend in the HVAC business he suggested that I install the protective caps over the service valve shafts. He also said to make sure the caps has the little sealing rings on the inside. Sure enough, after installing the caps, no more vacuum loss.

One more note, the Rotolock fittings do not have to be super tight. According to the shop manual it's normal to be able to rotate the service valves a bit even when they're tightened down. I tightened mine down pretty good but I am able to move the discharge valve and line a bit if I put enough hand pressure on it. The suction side can't move as the in line muffler bolts to the side of the compressor. Once it's lined up properly and bolted up I snugged the service valve nut down so it was secure.
I'm wary of overtightening the valves as I'm sure the aluminum head threads will strip out well before the steel nut threads on the service valves.

[LithiumCobalt]

Lithium Cobalt shamed me into painting my compressor black to respect the look of originality rather than leaving it the natural aluminum. At least I painted it before putting it back on.

You're welcome, George.

[bimmerkar]

I'm planning on going thru the AC system on my 1966 convertible. The system holds refrigerant and compressor engages but there is blockage somewhere. At the expansion valve, there is frost/icing when operated. it still uses R12.The receiver and drier seems fairly old and maybe the original although the compressor seems to have been replaced at some time.
I've new expansion valve; ac receiver and drier. I have a friend who has the right equipment for the process as well. I also bought 4 seasons york type compressor but i maybe keeping the old one once i confirm that it had enough oil in there upon removal. Currently, there is no strange noise from the compressor.

My question is that what is the best and easiest way to access the receiver /drier for replacement? Usually, nothing seems easy on these cars but i thought you guys have already tackled this job before. I can see where it is at just do not know if the easiest way to reach is to remove the front grill? I checked on the manual but could not find any description for the process. I assume 1966 and 1967 are the same. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

[LithiumCobalt]

Total pain in the ass job to get to the receiver/dryer. Probably not enough room to access everything through the front grille. I opted to loosen the bottom radiator bolts, remove the top support that secures the radiator and condenser to the front nose. You should have enough room to pull the condensor up between the nose and the radiator. It's a tight fit, but it will come out. Then you can get to everything easily. I did this with the hood still on, which made it more challenging. It's only four bolts to take the hood off and save yourself grief.

[TonyC]

Well, yes, unbolting the hood is easy. Wrestling it away from the car to keep it from crashing, however, that's hard, especially if you don't have a person there to help you with it.

Yes, the condenser/receiver assembly can be extracted without the hood, the way Nick indicated; but it is not absolutely necessary to remove the hood. True, there isn't much wiggle room, but it is still a relatively-easy job even with the hood in place.

On a side note, somewhat related to the topic, one of the few good things that came out of this last road trip of mine was that I finally was able to hit up Cold Hose in Ocala about reproducing A/C lines for Frankenstein's system. I got them Friday, and they look great! The shop needed to re-use a few of the high-line metal sections because they said they could not be reproduced, but they were able to transfer those sections to the new hosing they made. Good thing I hit them up in person, and carried all my old lines with me. The lines do not, however, look OE, as they elected to delete the metal section in the middle of the high line where the sight glass and that troublesome metering valve used to be; but I think that I should be able to live without a sight glass, anyway. Another thing about them is that, because they are made with thicker hosing, I'll have to modify the rubber insert in the midway bracket for the new high line to fit. Again, that should not be that hard a task. I can now say that I have everything I should need, minus R-12 of course, to re-assemble the A/C components in the engine bay and prep it for charging. But where the latter is concerned, I may have a connection to hook me up.

I do, however, have a bit of a question about the condition of the Rotalock service valves. Those valves, along with the muffler canister and the clutch pulley, are still original-original, and really the only OE components that I will use in the re-assembly. But, after so long of sitting exposed to engine-bay heat, fluids, and particles, I'm wondering if they are still usable. Can they be cleaned out, or must they be replaced? And if the latter, who would offer good replacements?

---Tony

[RMAENV]

Tony,

You may want to talk to Classic Auto Air in Florida. OOP! Looks like they have a place in Texas also. I sent my system to them for rebuild. Very knowledgeable (not cheap) I know they carry the '66 1 year only expansion valve. Toll free number... https://www.classicautoair.com/ If nothing else you will gain some knowledge from the phone call.

[LithiumCobalt]

Reused the roto lock valves, accumulator can and clutch pulley in my '67 sedan. Worked just fine. If it ain't broke don't go fixing it until it is.

[TonyC]

Alrighty, then, I'll do the same. Thanks, Nick.

I did have to get a new clutch magnet because the old one was clearly too worn to re-use, possibly a fire hazard; but the pulley felt okay. But that's in my stack of stuff, along with everything else: Condenser, receiver, compressor, lines, expansion valve, icing-control switch, evaporator core (which is already in place in the car)...all new items.

---Tony