AC Rebuild & 134A Conversion

I've had to pause the effort on the interior as I wait for some Eastwood paint and Second Skin sound deadening to arrive in a few days.  While waiting, I'm going to get started on the air conditioning system.

As I mentioned previously, the former owner stated the A/C has not worked since he purchased the car in November of 2022.  He had not attempted to do any work to it to understand what was wrong.  I tested the system by pressing on one of the Schrader valves a few days ago and there is no refrigerant in the system.  I decided that since I didn't want to go through guessing at what was wrong, I'd take this time to replace critical parts and perform a 134A conversion.

In an effort to get the system working again, I purchased mostly Four Seasons equipment except for the condenser since I couldn't find one anywhere.  The specific items I purchased include a Four Seasons compressor (FSS-58388), Four Seasons accumulator/dryer (FSS-55278), Four Seasons liquid hose line (FSS-55602), Four Seasons high pressure hose (FSS-55703), and Universal Air condenser (UAC-CN3554PFC), a Motorcraft 134A A/C Clutch Cycling Switch (YH-513 / E35Y-19E561-A), and the two manifolds which bolt to the top of the new compressor (LMR-6888748 and-LMR 6888747).  All the Four Seasons items came from Summit, the condenser from AutoZone, and the rest from LMR.

I removed all the hoses from the system this evening.  I sprayed PB Blaster into the AC fittings and after waiting a while pulled them using a Lisle (#39400) disconnect tool.  There is one particular fitting near the firewall and accumulator that everyone complains about taking forever to get loose.  I suppose I was lucky as it came out without any trouble.  I then removed the fan shroud, fan clutch, fan, and serpentine belt.  I stopped for the evening at that point not sure if I would remove the radiator or try to sneak the condenser without damaging the radiator.