removing HVAC system, advice needed

[IROCZman15]

next week (my spring break) i am going to be getting shop time at my mechanics shop.. he's guna let me use his lift/tools/ etc to pull the HVAC system out of the IROC

I'm guna get rid of the AC compressor, hoses, freon tank, and the heater core, along with extra coolant lines, wires, and on and on...

--MY questions are as follows?

- Anyone who has done this before, (sinister, etc), how difficult is it? How long should it take? Is there anything i should look out for? Are there any steps or rules to follow when removing an A?C and heater unit? (I dont need heat, cars a spring-summer car, and i've used the A/C/ once .. 5 years ago).... therefore I want to get rid of all of it, mostly because I am going to be cleaning up and painting the engine bay of the car this summer, ...

-Dont i have to release the pressure on the freon tank, and depressurize the system.. also, what type of holes will be left int he firewall, and any recomendations to cover them, fill them, or whatever..

Any help is appreciated. -Dave

[NP_00'T/A]

Dude let me know if you need help i'm free Tuesdays and Thursday!

[IROCZman15]

sounds good man, im home in NJ now, and i worked on the car a little bit today.. pulled the dash, gauges, center console, radio ecm, all that out,, removed the air-plumbing and ****, didnt get to work on the heater core yet, cuz Glenn never showed up to "evacuate" my A/C/ system..

tomorrow (monday) im going to have him do that, then remove the compressor, condensor, evaporator, hoses, heater core and wires .. should take all day, but if i need help on tuesday, i'll let u know..

(i think i saw u drivin around yesterday,, and after the firemans party too)

[IROCZman15]

yo man, we gotta go cruising more often this summer


- we got to that scenic overlook REAL fast man

REAL FAST

[NJSPEEDER]

for the a/c removal, drain the system, if he has a capture system you can be nice to the trees, or you can just let a line off and let it spray itself out. i prefer the later method and usually use the fitting going into the condensor near the radiator, it is the easiest one to get to. jsut stand back as soon as you pop it since the freon is bad for you and that **** sprays all over the damn place. then jsut start following the lines and removing. everything unbolts pretty easy.
for the heater first thing to do is drain off at least haf the coolant. then start by taking the coolant lines off the heater core and following them to the engine and rad. make sure you have caps/plugs to put on after you remove the lines.
once you have the engine compartment emptied of the mechanical bits you can clean up the engine compartment a lot by chasing out the wires for the a/c and any other stray wires that aren't being used.
next step is to go inside the car. dash removal will let you get to the rest of the wiring/vacuum controls for the hvac system and give you space to remove all of the duct work that you won't be using any more.

big suddestion is to take your time. if you can use a few days to get this done, do it. run all screws/bolts back into the hole they came out of to make sure you don't lose anything.

good luck

[IROCZman15]

awesome, so over my spring break, i tackled this project,

-i did most of it at night time after i worked construction in the daytime, so it took me a while, but it was better to be safe than in a rush

got the condensor, compressor, lines, evaporator, heater core, under dash plumbing temp control panel, all that out,, its all gone and in a few boxes.. weighs out to be about 62 lbs !

i also took a lot of time and moved around some of the non-sense wiring and hoses to cluttered up the engine bay.. made a batery tray, capped off some emissions tubes, degreased the engine bay, replaced the thermostat, and a buncha other things.. i took some pictures too, but havent uploaded them from my camera yet...

throughout the course of the project i documented 97% of it, almost everything, however one thing which i did not write, which i WISH i had.. is which bundle of wires i pulled out of each of the 3 relays.

----im talking abotu teh 3 relays in the cluster right by the master cyl.... one if for fuel pump, one for MAF, and one for A/C (i think, or Burn offf)

----and when i put them back on, (after hiding the wires better than the factory did) i wasnt sure between the two... I know i got the fuel pump one right, because, well my fuel pump runs,a nd i drove th car all day saturday... however, im Not sure which relay wires int he cluster i removed from the other 2 relays, bot plastic pieces fit in each of the 2 relay female ends..

sometimes when i plug one in it will make a loud BUZZZING sound , so i undo it and think its wrong, however i unplug it, and the code will light up.. CODE 34 for MAF, now i have checked the code and know about it in my 1987 Shop manual, yet everytime i think i reset it, it'll go off.. code 12, then 34,, ( i think 12 is the standard one tho...right????)

---so basuically everythign went really smooth and im really happy with having no HVAC system, (ive got tons mroe work to do to clean, polish, and arrange the engine bay, as well as have a brushed aluminum plate made up... yet, i just need to figure out this one code.. code 34, M.A.F.

anyone have any ideas on what couldbe setting it off.. (and ive disconnected the battery every time, to reset the code, but it still comes up... i think ihave the relays switched...

** and if anyone with an 87 IROC can tell me the color wires that go into the male relay for each realy, that wouldbe incredible, i definately could figure it out then

do u think i burned out the relay at all by plugging the wrong male relay in ?? is that possible???

Dave

[NP_00'T/A]

Looks great you did a good job...now there is plenty of room for a bigger engine! hint hint

[IROCZman15]

it took me a while to sit down and upload these pics, but here are some of the photos i took during the project

link to the page on my website:
http://www.freewebs.com/iroczman15/workdone2006.htm

-and as for the code 34, i think i am just going to get all 3 new relays from a chevy dealer if they make them, and fix the issue that way.. but i did find the wiring diagram, so we'll see

[Tru2Chevy]

You can prolly get any relays you need cheaper at an auto parts store than from the dealer.

And nice pics, I love the copyright message at the end. :D

- Justin