Back a few decades, I sawed a stock desiccant can apart for a look inside. The can was steel brazed together and half full of gray sludge. No trace of any desiccant beads or such- kind of nasty looking.Consistent with my life, I front mounted the A/C. The long stock R-12 A/C hoses fit fine once pulled forward. I replaced my OEM can with an attractive aluminum dryer can from a Freightliner semi. It was an inch shorter, a little wider and a bit lighter than stock- just right for mounting in that sharp angle in the right corner of the front trunk. No foam insulation. But the hydraulic fittings were not 37 degree AN- instead they were commercial 45 degree taper. So I made a 6061 adapter fitting to hook things together with the rest of my system- AN taper on one side and commercial taper on the other. Somewhere in the archives is a short article with photographs. On Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 10:02:53 PM PDT, Don Thomas <dtpantera@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Chuck, The purest AC Service Tech's will recommend that you replace the Dryer if the system is opened up. If you are switching from R12 to R134a ... You will need to replace the Dryer. The difference between an R12 and R134a AC dryer lies in the desiccant used. Older R12 dryers had desiccants that are not compatible with R134a/oil, but if the dryer was manufactured after 1993, the desiccant should be compatible with both refrigerants. When converting an AC system from R12 to R134a, it is recommended to replace the dryer with a new one that has a desiccant compatible with R134a. For more details .. here is a good reference: [1]https://www.perplexity.ai/search/r12-r134-ac-dryer-difere nce-5JelBMroRqeCiDYC3RLc4Q As for the foam around it... I have no idea. Best regards, -dt Don Thomas On Thu, May 29, 2025 at 9:15 AM Charles Engles <[2]cengles@cox.net> wrote: Dear Forum, This is a trivial question about the dryer in the Pantera AC system. Is the stock factory foam insulation over the dryer necessary if converting to R134? Mine is fifty years old and ready for retirement. Must it be replaced? Curious, Chuck Engles _______________________________________________ Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes DeTomaso mailing list -- [3]detomaso@server.detomasolist.com To unsubscribe send an email to [4]detomaso-leave@server.detomasolist.com To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.) use the links above. Members who post to this list grant license to the list to forward any message posted here to all past, current, or future members of the list. They also grant the list owner permission to maintain an archive or approve the archiving of list messages. References 1. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/r12-r134-ac-dryer-diference-5JelBMroRqeCiDY... 2. mailto:cengles@cox.net 3. mailto:detomaso@server.detomasolist.com 4. mailto:detomaso-leave@server.detomasolist.com _______________________________________________ Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes DeTomaso mailing list -- detomaso@server.detomasolist.com To unsubscribe send an email to detomaso-leave@server.detomasolist.com To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.) use the links above. Members who post to this list grant license to the list to forward any message posted here to all past, current, or future members of the list. They also grant the list owner permission to maintain an archive or approve the archiving of list messages. Back a few decades, I sawed a stock desiccant can apart for a look inside. The can was steel brazed together and half full of gray sludge. No trace of any desiccant beads or such- kind of nasty looking. Consistent with my life, I front mounted the A/C. The long stock R-12 A/C hoses fit fine once pulled forward. I replaced my OEM can with an attractive aluminum dryer can from a Freightliner semi. It was an inch shorter, a little wider and a bit lighter than stock- just right for mounting in that sharp angle in the right corner of the front trunk. No foam insulation. But the hydraulic fittings were not 37 degree AN- instead they were commercial 45 degree taper. So I made a 6061 adapter fitting to hook things together with the rest of my system- AN taper on one side and commercial taper on the other. Somewhere in the archives is a short article with photographs. On Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 10:02:53 PM PDT, Don Thomas <dtpantera@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Chuck, The purest AC Service Tech's will recommend that you replace the Dryer if the system is opened up. If you are switching from R12 to R134a ... You will need to replace the Dryer. The difference between an R12 and R134a AC dryer lies in the desiccant used. Older R12 dryers had desiccants that are not compatible with R134a/oil, but if the dryer was manufactured after 1993, the desiccant should be compatible with both refrigerants. When converting an AC system from R12 to R134a, it is recommended to replace the dryer with a new one that has a desiccant compatible with R134a. For more details .. here is a good reference: [1]https://www.perplexity.ai/search/r12-r134-ac-dryer-difere nce-5JelBMroRqeCiDYC3RLc4Q As for the foam around it... I have no idea. Best regards, -dt Don Thomas On Thu, May 29, 2025 at 9:15 AM Charles Engles <[2]cengles@cox.net> wrote: Dear Forum, This is a trivial question about the dryer in the Pantera AC system. Is the stock factory foam insulation over the dryer necessary if converting to R134? Mine is fifty years old and ready for retirement. Must it be replaced? Curious, Chuck Engles _______________________________________________ Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes DeTomaso mailing list -- [3]detomaso@server.detomasolist.com To unsubscribe send an email to [4]detomaso-leave@server.detomasolist.com To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.) use the links above. Members who post to this list grant license to the list to forward any message posted here to all past, current, or future members of the list. They also grant the list owner permission to maintain an archive or approve the archiving of list messages. References 1. [1]https://www.perplexity.ai/search/r12-r134-ac-dryer-diference-5JelBMr oRqeCiDYC3RLc4Q 2. mailto:cengles@cox.net 3. mailto:detomaso@server.detomasolist.com 4. mailto:detomaso-leave@server.detomasolist.com _______________________________________________ Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes DeTomaso mailing list -- [2]detomaso@server.detomasolist.com To unsubscribe send an email to [3]detomaso-leave@server.detomasolist.com To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.) use the links above. Members who post to this list grant license to the list to forward any message posted here to all past, current, or future members of the list. They also grant the list owner permission to maintain an archive or approve the archiving of list messages. References 1. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/r12-r134-ac-dryer-diference-5JelBMroRqeCiDY... 2. mailto:detomaso@server.detomasolist.com 3. mailto:detomaso-leave@server.detomasolist.com