Well, what started out as an examination of the size of the speaker holes in
the rear AC cabinet turned into an all-day extraction of my AC system
yesterday. Our '85 westie came with AC that never worked. Living in the
Pacific Northwest, I never noticed the AC except when 1) messing around in
the engine compartment, I always had to work around the big AC compressor,
and 2) not being able to use the compartment over the lower bunk because,
well, it had the AC unit in it. I had considered pulling the AC before but
many people told me it may reduce the resale value of the vehicle. Well, I
don't plan to sell this vehicle any time soon, and the lack of space is more
of an issue now that the wife and I are planning a multi-month trip in the
fall, so I ripped the puppy out.

It was fairly easy. The system didn't have any refrigerant in it (surprise),
so I could simply undo the the hoses and pull the compressor. Getting the
hoses out was a pain and dirty. Pulling the front AC Radiator was a cinch as
was dropping the AC housing over the lower bunk. I had to pull the cabinet
out to get to the hoses behind it but that was not so bad either.

Finally, I started pulling the wiring but didn't want to mess with the rats
nest behind the fuse pannel so I have left the final removal for a later
day. I ripped out wiring up to the gas tank. Before we leave, I will
probably drop the tank to replace the gas lines anyway so I'll finish
ripping out the wiring then.

I have some holes where the hoses went into the engine compartment from
behind the driver side rear wheel. These are duck taped for now but I hope
to fashion a plate later.

So, all of this is a long way of saying I have AC parts if anyone wants
them. P-mail me if you do.

Scott Semyan
'85 Westie (non-AC)