[creeper]

I've been tinkering with my AC lately, I swapped everything from the firewall forward completely in about an hour and a half in my driveway and that was including dropping the swaybar, if it was a stock swaybar I might have been able to wiggle it out without having to. I don't know how much labor he's charging you but prices (from rock auto) are:

compressor $220ish (new, don't go remanufactured)
drier/accumulator $35ish
condenser $100ish
orifice tube $0.97ish

then vacuum/oil/charge etc is around $100-150

so even if he is replacing everything (even if it's not entirely necessary) it still sounds like he's charging you way too much for either the parts or the labor. if there's debris you will need to replace the condenser since you really can't flush them properly, but if it's just a seal it shouldn't need to be.

what color is your firehawk? I'm right in franklin lakes