OK, here is the easiest and cheapest way to do what you want to do.  Cut or
remove the AC belt and leave everything else alone.  You will get rid of
any "drag" that a free wheeling compressor will have on the engine, and
won't have to remove the freon from the system or do any other work.  There
is no reason to remove the compressor.  Don't do it, and save yourself
time, effort and money.

On Fri, Mar 11, 2016 at 6:43 AM, jbclem <jbclem1@charter.net> wrote:
>
> Just to be clear...I don't want to strip all AC parts from this Vanagon
(1986 sunroof/non-Westphalia).  I just want to remove the compressor
because it gets in the way of working on the left side of the engine.  I
also don't like air conditioning so I won't miss it.  I'm not going to
throw away the compressor and it's bracket,  so in the unlikely event that
I sell the car it'll still be available for hookup.
>
> The problem is I can't drive the car to an AC shop for evacuation...I
temporarily cancelled the insurance and my insurance agent reported this to
the Calif. DMV, who then arbitrarily suspended the registration.
>
> I was hoping someone had figured out a DIY method to evacuate the
system.  I just found out that Autozone will lend out a vac pump, so that's
a starting point.

--
Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com