[DeTomaso] 1972 detomaso pantera ac

Wed Apr 29 17:10:29 EDT 2009

Have you considered Freeze-12? It is a replacement for R12 that kept me cool
all last summer. I have driven across the country 4 times in the last 7
years and I wouldn't do it without AC. It is much cheaper than R-12.

Dave in Frederick, MD
It's getting hotter.

http://www.freeze12.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
Behalf Of MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 4:56 PM
To: LEVITT1946 at aol.com; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] 1972 detomaso pantera ac

In a message dated 4/29/09 10 22 32, LEVITT1946 at aol.com writes:

> Hello from the Gumball 3000 Pantera ,
> 
> Going to pick up the car today .The guys at PI Motorsports have gone over 
> and above to make sure the car is beyond ready for the trip across the 
> USA.
> 
>>>Great!
> 
> The air conditioning  system cannot be repaired out here in  CALIFORNIA
> .The system uses R12 and it is very expensive out here.
> 
>>>No more or less expensive than anywhere else.   And it can just as 
easily be fixed in California as anywhere else.   It's a time-consuming
process 
though, one that may take the better part of a day or more, no matter where 
you do it.

Mike Dailey spent months getting his A/C system to work correctly.   By his 
own admission, he kept trying to take shortcuts by replacing this but not 
that, and it wound up costing him way more than if he had just started from 
scratch and had new hoses, expansion valve and compressor installed all at 
the same time.

You can get very smart on the process and learn from his experiences here:

http://www.panteraplace.com/page123.htm

> >I am hoping  that the
> system can be filled somewhere along the route maybe in DALLAS .
> 
> Does anyone know of a shop in dallas that can make a local stop at the W 
> hotel in Dallas to Fill the system with R12?
> 
>>>The problem with your A/C system is not that it is empty.   Think of 
your A/C system as being like a tire (very oversimplified).   If you walk
out 
to your car one day and find that the tire is flat, is the 'fix' to add air 
to the tire?   No.   You have to find out WHY it suddenly went flat.   
Chances are it's either a nail or something in the tread, a bad valve stem,
or a 
leaky wheel (there aren't many other possible reasons for a tire to go down,

other than catastrophic failure of the tire itself).

Now, shifting to your A/C system, the problem you have is that there is a 
leak somewhere.   Where is it?   Why is it leaking?   It could be something 
as simple as a loose connection, or old A/C lines which have rotted away and

are just leaking right through the lines, or a pinhole in the condensor, or 
the evaporator, or bad seals in the compressor, or or or....

Others who know far more than I do about A/C (and there are many such 
people here) will be able to give you a more detailed description of the
process 
required to troubleshoot and fix the problem.   Among the various steps are 
evacuating the system fully, putting vacuum on the system and seeing how 
badly it leaks, then adding dye to the system and pressurizing it and using
a 
black light (I think?) to try to find the source of the leak.

Like I said, this is all time-consuming, and you've run out of time.   So 
just commit to the idea that you're going to have to run the car without
A/C.

Oh, and if you drive above 90 mph or so with the windows down, vacuum will 
tend to rip your headliner down into your face, scaring the hell out of you,

temporarily blocking your vision, and filling the cabin with old, black 
foam insulation. :<(
> 
> Hope to see you all along the route and at the various car shows in each 
> city.
> 
>>>Grit your teeth and bear up for the heat, and we are all pulling for 
you!   Good luck!!!!

Mike

P.S.   If you haven't already taken active measures to insulate the cabin 
by putting heat insulation in between the fiberglass back panel and center 
console, and the inside of the firewall/central steel tunnel, I would
strongly 
urge you to do that before you go anywhere.

**************
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