April 1, 1998
Glenn,
I've been browsing through the letters and articles on your site. On one hand, it's sort of a relief to know I'm not the only one with problems with hesitation, overheating in traffic jams, and gas fumes, though it's also disappointing to know these problems are so predictable!
I have a question re AC conversion. The guy I bought the car from tells me I should have no problem getting Freon, even though it's expensive. Now I'm starting to wonder, from reading what you wrote, if I should be thinking about converting. Have you done yours? I've been told it's legal to sell Freon. If that's true, why should the price be so high (and rising) -- just to discourage people from using it? As you can tell, I am new to this whole Freon thing, not to mention 1800s in general.
Beth Pearson
Beth - The Freon thing has been building for several years. Scientists worldwide agreed about ten years ago that Freon (DuPont's trademark for refrigerant-12) and other manufactured chloro-fluoro-carbons were very likely responsible for the growing hole in the Earth's protective ozone layer. Legislators in the United States enacted a series of measures designed to make R-12 obsolete. It is now illegal to manufacture the stuff in this country, and I believe it is or soon will be illegal to import it.
The legislative effort has had the intended effect. The law of supply and demand has sent R-12 prices so high that lots of people are finding ways to use other refrigerants. I don't know the letter of the law, and neither do most auto supply clerks. I'm pretty sure that it is legal for anyone to buy a container holding more than 30 pounds of R-12, but the guy at Gateway Auto Supply tells me I have to have a license to buy it. As far as I can tell, the 14-ounce cans are not sold in this country any more.
Since it is March here in Texas, I have once again been thinking about the air conditioning in the 1800. In fact, I just went out to the shed yesterday to see how much R-12 was left. Two 14-ounce cans. Enough to last me two to three months. Guess I'll deploy the last of my Freon around the middle of May, later if the weather isn't too bad.
I would have taken care of this over the winter, but another project car has received my undivided attention since August. I have been working on some of the less time-hogging details. I acquired a used heavy-duty radiator for the 1800, which I will take to an overhaul shop soon. I also sized and priced electric fans at the local auto supply, and I have been mentally planning the wiring and operation of the fan and the replacement of the refrigerant.
I still plan to use R-134a for the reasons listed on the web page: it's cheap, easy to find, and doesn't require a license to purchase. I think you would be wise to scope out your options. I plan to do the conversion myself, which will save a large part of the cost. If you can have your R-12 system recharged every year for a reasonable cost, it might not be worth it for you to have the system converted to R-134a. On the other hand, if you plan to drive the car for several years, it might be better to convert now and save the rising cost of the R-12. -Glenn.