Interchangeable ac system

[Juan Torres]

I bought a truck 1985 short bed C10. The guy who had it said he swap the motor from a 93 Chevy 1500 soak off the air intake manifold and put the carbureted intake.. the problem I'm having is my AC I pull a vacuum and it leaks out within minutes. I'm thinking about changing the whole AC system may be leaving the condenser cuz it looks new. Can I use an evaporator from a 85 Chevy and put compressor lines and drier and new compressor and make it work. It has a R4 on the passenger side and when I first charged it a while back it held a charge for about a day then I saw a cloud of smoke well I it didn't work again. Also I am getting a frozen line right out of evaporator line coming from firewall box but looks like it stop freezing around orfice tube by high side port.

 

[chengny]

I bought a truck 1985 short bed C10. The guy who had it said he swap the motor from a 93 Chevy 1500 soak off the air intake manifold and put the carbureted intake.. the problem I'm having is my AC I pull a vacuum and it leaks out within minutes. I'm thinking about changing the whole AC system may be leaving the condenser cuz it looks new. Can I use an evaporator from a 85 Chevy and put compressor lines and drier and new compressor and make it work. It has a R4 on the passenger side and when I first charged it a while back it held a charge for about a day then I saw a cloud of smoke well I it didn't work again. Also I am getting a frozen line right out of evaporator line coming from firewall box but looks like it stop freezing around orfice tube by high side port.

First step is to find the leak. Add some gas to pressurize the system and then listen, feel or use soap suds to identify the location of the leak.

 

[75gmck25]

My truck has the original evaporator, but a Sanden compressor and brackets from Vintage Air, generic parallel flow condenser from Arizona Mobile Air, Ford blue orifice, and an accumulator for an '84 truck. It all works together well with R134a when I get the charge right. However, its a little bit of a challenge to find the sweet spot for refrigerant charge, since all the original R12 info is no longer relevant. It also required new custom barrier hoses, but that was easy once I found a good A/C shop.

Bruce

 

[RoryH19]

As mentioned above find the leak with soapy water or leak detect (dye).
I always suggest replacing all ac parts if the system has been opened or just not sure of the condition.
Stock hose that will work on a passenger side compressor is one from a serpentine setup.
90 - 91 Blazer or suburban without rear air. Same thing if you need the dryer, evap, condenser, compressor and orifice tube. 134a charge is ~85% of the r12 requirement.