I'm thinking about fixing the A/C system. It didn't work when I purchased the car, but it does look like the whole A/C system is still in place. I recently replaced the compressor because it failed, causing engine performance problems. There must be a leak somewhere in the system because both a professional A/C recharge and an at-home recharge attempt didn't work. I was considering taking a whole A/C system out of a wrecked camaro at a salvage yard. Is this the best way to go about it?

Also, the car has no heat because the heater hoses are missing! I'm thinking the heater core is clogged or busted and the previous owner didn't want to mess with it.

 

A competent A/C shop should have a leak detector, or be able to add dye to the system to locate the leak. Getting 25 year old system components from a salvage yard would be very hit or miss. You'll spend more money installing the system, having it evacuated and charging it, possibly to find it leaks as well, then start over again.

Clogged heater core is a common problem. But you don't need to delete the lines if it happens. If it's leaking, they might have removed the lines. Shoebox has the part numbers for some of the components:

http://shbox.com/1/heater_hoses.jpg

No idea if they are still available.

 

Ok, well it doesn't sound like its worth the $$ to go any further. I might just plug off the heater hose outlets and possibly remove the A/C system from under the hood. Would that interfere anything inside the cabin? I know that I'm basically removing everything except defrost. I've heard that its a real pain to do anything involving removing the dashboard, so I don't want to mess with that, just the components under the hood.

 

The “Defrost” function needs both the A/C system and the heater. A/C knocks the moisture (humidity) out of the incoming air, and the heater reheats that air to remove moisture from the inside of the windows and snow/ice from the outside. It will work with just the heater, but take longer to clear the inside of the windows. Just using the fan to blow cold air on the windshield isn’t going to do much at all.

Heater pipes/hoses would make sense to get from a salvage yard, on eBay, or from a place like Hawk's Motorsport. Hawk's shows a complete new, GN heater pipe/hose set for 95-97:

https://www.hawksmotorsports.com/93-...nents/cooling/

 

If I were to 'remove the a/c components from under the hood only', is there anything to note about the black box at the firewall? What is that for? I think I would go ahead and replace the heater core if I were to put new hoses in because I don't know if it was leaking or whatever the reason the hoses were removed.

 

The box on the firewall contains the A/C evaporator. That's the heat exchanger where the refrigerant evaporates and pulls heat out of the air. I've deleted my A/C and the evaporator is still in place. The only reason to go through the trouble of removing the evaporator and the box would be for weight reduction. There is a panel available to close off the firewall opening if you remove the box.

If you replace the heater core, I believe you could remove the evaporator while the heater core is removed.

Shoebox's diagram from the factory manual shows the workings of the A/C and heat components under the dash.

http://shbox.com/1/hvac_vacuum.jpg

http://shbox.com/1/ac_system.jpg

 

if i want to completely remove the AC do i need to replace the belt with a shorter belt? is there a different way to remove the compressor? The AC doesn't work and I'm only autox'ing the car so i don't need it.

Thanks in advance

 

Is your car a 1996 LT1?

If so - no, a shorter belt will not work. You have to buy an "A/C delete pulley", that installs in place of the A/C compressor. There was a factory piece (GM part # 10115875) made for the 1LE option cars with no A/C. I don't think that piece is available any more, but Dorman may make a substitute. Whether you need a slightly shorter belt to go with that pulley will depend on the diameter of the pulley, and how they mount it on the bracket that bolts in place of the compressor. ebay has them, but some of them are cheap Chinese ripoff products.