RE: [T3] A/C... Refrigerant

["Neil" <neil@neil.us>]

Although it's still make in places other than the USA. When I was living in
Texas working at a VW wrecking yard there, one of the guys would go to see
his family in Mexico once a month and come back with 10-12 small cans of R12
stashed in his car. The owner of the shop would buy them for about 10X what
the guy paid in Mexico, but still less than half the going rate from the
normal supply chains.

Neil

-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Park [mailto:topnotch@nycap.rr.com] 
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 7:31 PM
To: type3@vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] A/C... Refrigerant

Oh by the way, I was talking to our AC expert at work today and I was wrong
about the R12
    It is still available and legal to buy anywhere, but its illegal to
MAKE.
So, as supplies dry up the price is up around $36lb right now.  I do
remember that you have to buy it in at least 30lb sizes now or something
like that... you cant get the 2lb cans anymore.
    Additionally... to convert to 134a you need to replace the hoses at
least, as they will pass the smaller molecule gas and need to be made of a
different rubber for the 134a.  There are supposedly some drop in
replacements for the R12 though, where you dont need to change or add oil...
so alternatives for the 3 remaining functional AC cars in the US may again
be available.

Keith

Keith Park

Top Notch Restorations
topnotch@nycap.rr.com
71 Squareback
65 Notchback "El BajaRojo"
65 Squareback "Eggcrate"
87 Golf
88 Rx7 10th Anniversary "Rextur"


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