No, correct, you weren't "arguing" at all. I was using the term argument as it relates to a discussion about two opposing points of view. It's just that the propane thing HAS been argued to death already on every old car website and Utoob influencer in the universe.
You'll get no argument from me!
Me neither but the compressors are become obscenely expensive and hard to find. And when you do, some of those are on their 3rd rebuild. And if the car came with air, taking it out altogether is like ripping my heart out.
In 2018 I bought a Four Seasons reman for $149 from Rocky, thinking I needed to replace of the RV2 that was probably original to the car. Tossed the original, which now I know was a dumb mistake! Installed the reman, but I've never been able to get the front ceramic seal to seal properly (two attempts). Maybe the crank is slightly bent (hydralocked maybe?), and it will never seal. So I have a pal giving me a compressor off a parts-car that has always been R12. I'll check the oil level and install it.
The sticky foam insulation that goes around the expansion valve - I don’t know the name or part number, but I picked up some from the air conditioning company (they made the hoses that I needed and also do repair work). I suspect that you can call an automotive repair shop that does air conditioning work and find it.
If the system has R-134a adapters installed, part of a proper conversion, you can probably assume that it also has the proper oil (usually PAG oil) installed. If the system was completely rebuilt or flushed,it could also have Ester oil installed. If the system still has the R-12 adapters installed, it probably still had the R-12 installed and will contain mineral oil. Ester type oils will generally work with any refrigerant, mineral oils usually only work with R-12 in automotive systems. If the system suffered a compressor burnout or sat apart for a long time, it should be flushed as part of the repair process and a new filter dryer installed with a fresh charge of oil. If the system is being converted to R-134a, the green high density o-rings should also be installed at all fittings.
Nope, it all looks like oil. When whatever "type" of Freon system was used for a given car over the past five decades, there were absolutely no thoughts of converting from one to the other. The tech at the time would know it's either 12 or 134 and go from there. As I recall, conversion from 12 to 134 in older cars started in approximately 2000ish after the easy supply of $1.50USD cans of R12 began to tighten up. Now, it has even been banned from eBay sales!
