134-a conversion

I took the Criterion to the A/C guy 75 miles away to get it working. He is the only guy I could find that would even look at it. It will be converted to the 134-a freon and hopefully he can get both units cooling. He is looking at my loose front end as well. It appears most folks are not happy when converting to the 134-a freon since it does not cool as well but what else can you do.
:snow_smi:
 
find some one that will put in the r-12. you can go to e-bay and get all the cans you want of it. all kind so of prices to. my high top has been converted ti 134. other then the fact that i can now easily add a car from any parts store it's no better then with the r-12. the seville we did back to r-12 and it has not given me any trouble at all. we have kept the limo with r 12 and only added to it last year. but to me the key is finding someone that can and is welling to do more then just dump a few cans in the system. some one that can repair it and knows what they are doing. if they say they will only do the r134 then shy away. if they can do both then talk to him of advantages and disadvantages of converting. down there you would think that they would have a lot of experience. me I'll never do it again.
 
Classis Auto Air will repair or rebuild just about any component of an R-12 system. http://www.classicautoair.com/

r-134 will work in a conversion, but is not as efficient because the system is designed for r-12 which has a different density. Myself, I like keeping things the way they were designed.
 
I talked with them today and the conversion is underway. It is on the rack and they're checking the plumbing to the rear unit. We all know 134-a is not as cool as the r-12 but one has no other choice nowadays. Worse case is I will have to change the compressor to a newer version if I want it cooler. In Florida, any level of cool is better than none.
My Lifeliner was converted last year to 134-a and I was happy with how it cooled. It at least kept you from sweating. The issue I had with it was the guy wired the compressor straight so it never turned off. Not smart. If these guys do a good job then the Lifeliner is next.
:whip:
 
Richard said "It is on the rack." I don't know what sort of "rack" is being referred to, but it has always been my understanding that these long-wheelbase cars should never be lifted by any type of device other than a drive-on lift, on which the wheels rest on the ramps. The older Cadillac owner's manuals state that neither the Series 75 nor the commercial chassis cars should ever be lifted by a frame-engaging hoist. I assume Richard knows all this already, but wanted to mention it for anyone else who might not be aware.
 
Several years ago, I took a '73 Cad coach in for some exhaust work and told the service mgr specifically not to raise the car on the hoist they had, but to jack up the rear end. I sat down in the waiting area to read something and noticed out the corner of my eye the front on my car on the lift. So, even if you tell them, you have to monitor what they are doing. ( This whole routine is esp. important with the '57 - '64 Cad commercial and '57 - '65 Series 75, as these cars have the X-shaped "Cruciform" frame. ) Be safe and don't let anyone put your long-wheelbase car on anything but a drive-on ramp type lift. Cadillac Division would not put this caveat in the manuals if it were not important.
 
sorry Jim don't buy it. why did they supply a frame lift jack with the car if you could not pick it up by the frame. how you going to change a tire if all the wheels are flat on the ground? the x brace would be a little hard to lift with a side post lift as most would not stretch out far enough to catch the frame in front and behind the wheels. were the jack point is. but it has been my experience on a number of cars that if you pick it up at the lift point high enough you can have both side tires off the ground. most likely not with the x frame. but there was a reason they stopped using it. you got a big enough jack you can pick the side of the car up in the center of the b post and still open both doors on that side. the frame under the commercial chassis caddie is one stout frame. the stretched frame under the cb is even stronger superiors ponchos now I don't know but they were stretched to gm specks. I would have to see what your saying in writing to believe it even got printed. but I would bet it was on the x frame cars. only because the equipment would not accommodate the design of the frame. and the car could not be safely picked up by the body. the extended fingers that the body mounted to would not support the weigh in revers either. but a 66 to 76 you can pick up any were.
 
A/C UpDate

As of now, the schrader valves have been replaced and it held vacuum for over 30 minutes which tells him it will hold freon. Both units getting cold but seems the blower motor is bad up front, will check that. So far so good. Could not find any leaks but thinks it may have been the valves. When charged with freon it blows 42 degrees from vents.

:snow2_smi:
 
As of now, the schrader valves have been replaced and it held vacuum for over 30 minutes which tells him it will hold freon. Both units getting cold but seems the blower motor is bad up front, will check that. So far so good. Could not find any leaks but thinks it may have been the valves. When charged with freon it blows 42 degrees from vents.

:snow2_smi:

And we are in business. A/C is cold and running great! Both units blowing with the new 134-a freon. Working on front end now. Needs idler arm, something else, and front wheel bearings snugged up.

Yeah. :071::cheers::thewave:
 
ED, I have owned Commericial and Series 75 Cads from the '60's and '70's with both the Cruciform and perimeter frames, and the owners manuals for both types of cars stated that neither the Commercial nor the 75 was to be raised on a frame-engaging hoist. There is simply too much weight hanging out there on each end. Those frames are indeed strong, but they were not designed to be lifted by a hoist intended for ordinary, shorter cars. These warnings are in the manuals. If we have these types of cars, it would seem prudent to adhere to the manufacturer's instructions.
 
And we are in business. A/C is cold and running great! Both units blowing with the new 134-a freon. Working on front end now. Needs idler arm, something else, and front wheel bearings snugged up.

Yeah. :071::cheers::thewave:

Glad to hear that it is working.. I also just checked with my parts supplier, and he said that "something else" is on back order and they have no idea when it will be back in stock again.. All the other mentioned parts are available overnight from NAPA.. :thumb:
 
Was messing with the criterion yesterday afternoon waiting for Richard and Terri's arrival and had forgot a few weeks ago had noticed the a/c compressor unplugged which in the old days alot of people did in the winter to save gas or what ever so I was looking over the fluid's and saw the wire again and plugged it up and thought, what the heck lets charge it and see what happens. Did notice there was still pressure in the system which was good sign so from there added two cans of Freeze 12 and can of oil charge and the darn thing actually began working. This old car still surprises me how it came back from the dead, well almost! RIchard got some pictures so when he gets back home tonight maybe he can post them.
 
134r -R-12

I have converted my older cars over and I have not had much problem. On the 66 Caddy MM I took off the fixed fan and in its place added an aftermarket electric cooling fan. I gained 3 mpg and the extra air keeps my temp. on the money sitting idle keeping the flowers from whilting or running up the hill. The 390 doesn't ever overheat anymore, before at a long long idle period I couldn't run the a/c.
 
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