Make it Easy on Yourself
Steve, 64-66 Tech Editor

 After a nice cold winter, won’t that A/C feel good next summer?  What do you mean it does not work?  All you have to do is read the shop manual, and with a few days, and most of the interior removed—including the dash, you are ready to get to that little piece of equipment known as the expansion valve.  I think the shop manual starts with suggesting removal of the backseat as your first step.  Already in a panic, you take it to your trusted mechanic, and he sees enough money here to take that cruise his wife has been asking about.  I would rather take my wife on that cruise, and she is nodding her head in agreement.  So lets make this easy and have A/C in the T-Bird and the cruise.

 I have done the following procedure many times in the past twenty years, and not once have I encountered a problem.  Just take your time, walk away for thirty minutes when the “going gets tough”, and then come back to it.  First, have a place where the car can remain if you need to leave it until you can get back to it.  The driver’s door has to be able to open all the way for ease.  Disconnect the battery.  The A/C system has to be empty of its freon charge, so if you do not have this ability, you will have to have this step done at a reputable A/C shop.  For ease, I remove the driver’s seat, but if you are smaller and more agile than this 200 lb. 50 year old, you can leave it in place.  Throw a blanket on the carpet and step plate to protect them and your back while you are lying there.  Remove the console side cover and trim.  Remove the small piece of under dash trim under the headlight switch.  These pieces of trim are the ones under the dash on the driver’s side.  Put a block behind the wheels to keep the car from rolling, as you will need the steering column in the straight-ahead position.  Using a droplight—one of those smaller ones, look up under the dash, and to the right of the gas pedal and linkage.  You will see a four or five inch square unit attached to the side of the A/C case.  It will have wires attached, a vacuum hose, and a coiled silver tube attached.  This is you’re A/C thermostatic system that controls the temp of the A/C and thus the operation of the compressor. On each of the four corners are small nuts attaching this unit to the case.  Remove the four nuts, carefully move this assembly out of the way.  DO NOT break the silver tube.  It will bend, and you can manipulate it, but do not kink it.  This whole unit will kind of stay where you put it due to this tube.  Now if you look up past this unit to where the A/C case meets the firewall you will see a black tarry like substance that is wrapped around the expansion valve.  It is sometimes messy, but you have to remove this insulating tape by working it off your fingers.  It will come off, exposing the expansion valve, and the fittings that need to be taken loose.  You will notice that the line coming out of the A/C case is copper, and copper can break.  Using open-end wrenches, loosen the fitting from the expansion valve to the A/C case line. This will not take much to loosen, and you can then spin it off with your fingers.  The same has to be done connecting the expansion valve to the hose coming out of the firewall.  Both sets of these fittings can be seen and gotten to in this method.  The expansion valve is now held in place be a capillary tube that is attached with a small clamp to the A/C line.  Usually, the little screw holding this clamp on is aimed straight up because it was put on with this whole assembly sitting out on an assembly table.  Use small open end wrench, and loosen, but do not remove this screw.  Loosen until you can slip the little bulb end of the tube out of the clamp.  Remove the expansion valve!!

 Put the hew expansion valve in place, reattach the lines, put the bulb end back in the clamp, and tighten it down.  This bulb end has to make good contact with the line as the original did.  This is a must.  Wrap the assembly with new A/C insulating tape as originally done.  Reconnect all other items as removed, and you are done.

 I have done this job many times, and can usually have it done in about 2-3 hours.  You should take your time, be careful not to break any lines or tubing, and walk away for a while if you are tense.  I learned how to do this because I did not want to pull the dash, and I could not afford to have it done.  You can do it to if you have any mechanical ability.  Complete the repair with a new/ rebuilt drier assembly, and new compressor if needed. 

Type of freon is another issue that warrants an article by itself.  I use the R-12 drop in replacement, and am very happy.  This is personal preference, due to ease of just putting it in!

Now you can rest for the winter, and look forward to that cruise you just saved money for.  What?  You have no heat in the car?  That is another article yet to be written.