L67 swap A/C

[Quaraxkad]

I have an L67 swap in my 92 Cutlass, which I never bothered to hook up any of the A/C for. I want to do that now and am in the process of collecting parts, but I've found conflicting information on what lines are needed from what cars. I have all the original lines from the 3.1 LH0. I should have most of the lines from the 04 Impala SS donor. I think I have some other random lines I may have grabbed from junkyards while working on the swap years ago.

 

Does anybody know for sure what A/C lines will fit?

[Bake82]

The best bet is 98/99 Lumina LTZ/Monte Carlo Z34 with the 3.8.  Grab all the lines in the engine bay off one of those cars, 

6-7 yrs ago I bought the hardlines that connect to the firewall directly from GM.  Wonder if you could do the same?  

 

I also believe that lumina Z34's have same lines that can work, but I cannot confirm this.  

[55trucker]

I'm going to differ with you on this Kyle.......

what OP needs is the necessary A/C piping from a 1st Gen Regal with the 3.8 engine.

If you intend on keeping as much as your car is currently fitted with you'll need the a/c compressor manifold hose assembly that was fitted to the 3.8 Regal & a new rebuilt pre 94 compressor.

Everything prior to 94 is R12 based, everything post 93 is R134 based. When GM introduced 134 in 94 they changed ALL of the A/C line fittings thread pitch so NOTHING from prior & post can be used together.

My suggestion to you is to keep your 92 car all 92, get that old 92 3.8 manifold hose assembly & purchase a new *rebuilt* pre 94 A/C compressor, even the manifold hose assembly changed in 94 because GM redesigned the back end of the compressor housing for 94 so the old manifold hose will not attach to the newer design compressor housing. 

Purchase yourself a new receiver/dryer as well as a new orifice tube.

Go into Rockauto, search 92 Regal, they still house most of what you'll need.  

[Black92GS]

Just now, 55trucker said:

I'm going to differ with you on this Kyle.......

what OP needs is the necessary A/C piping from a 1st Gen Regal with the 3.8 engine.

If you intend on keeping as much as your car is currently fitted with you'll need the a/c compressor manifold hose assembly that was fitted to the 3.8 Regal & a new rebuilt pre 94 compressor.

Everything prior to 94 is R12 based, everything post 93 is R134 based. When GM introduced 134 in 94 they changed ALL of the A/C line fittings thread pitch so NOTHING from prior & post can be used together.

My suggestion to you is to keep your 92 car all 92, get that old 92 3.8 manifold hose assembly & purchase a new *rebuilt* pre 94 A/C compressor, even the manifold hose assembly changed in 94 because GM redesigned the back end of the compressor housing for 94 so the old manifold hose will not attach to the newer design compressor housing. 

Purchase yourself a new receiver/dryer as well as a new orifice tube.

Go into Rockauto, search 92 Regal, they still house most of what you'll need.  

One issue you may run into there is that 3800 series 1 powered cars all used the HR6 style AC compressor vs the V5 compressor that the 60 degree V6s and the 3800 series 2 cars used. 

A 1996 Buick Regal 3800 would have had a 3800 series 2 from the factory, so you might need to look for the AC components for one of those. 

 

[Quaraxkad]

Reviewing some components other than lines...

I just checked the part numbers (3093285) for the evaporator core, and they're the same part from '88-'01 in just about every W-body, including 92 Regal, 92 Cutlass, 98 Monte. So at least the fittings there should bolt up no problem from any donor.

The condensors are the same part number (52452050) from 89-93 and 94 Lumina (did it still get R12 that year?), and a second part number (52481282) for the rest of 94-01. Aftermarket lists them both as having 3/4" - 16 thread inlet and outlets, good for R12 and R134, but different core thickness (18mm and 25mm), and slightly different core dimensions and styles. Other than that they seem to be the same, possibly interchangable. I already do have a brand new 89-93 condensor I bought several years ago and never installed.

[Black92GS]

59 minutes ago, Quaraxkad said:

Reviewing some components other than lines...

I just checked the part numbers (3093285) for the evaporator core, and they're the same part from '88-'01 in just about every W-body, including 92 Regal, 92 Cutlass, 98 Monte. So at least the fittings there should bolt up no problem from any donor.

The condensors are the same part number (52452050) from 89-93 and 94 Lumina (did it still get R12 that year?), and a second part number (52481282) for the rest of 94-01. Aftermarket lists them both as having 3/4" - 16 thread inlet and outlets, good for R12 and R134, but different core thickness (18mm and 25mm), and slightly different core dimensions and styles. Other than that they seem to be the same, possibly interchangable. I already do have a brand new 89-93 condensor I bought several years ago and never installed.

When it comes to evaporators, the real test would be checking the part number for a 92 Regal with the 3800 against one for a 92 cutlass. If the part numbers match, you should be OK there. 
 

88-95 Regals with the 2.8/3.1/3100 would have had the same AC setup as the other Ws of the same year. The 3800 series 1 cars, of which the 90-95 Regals were the only Ws to use it, used a completely different AC compressor and AC setup(Cycling clutch vs variable displacement compressor) Some parts might match and interchange with other Ws, while others won’t. 
 

Just something to keep in mind when cross shopping parts. AC parts for a 92 Regal with the 3.1 should all match a 92 cutlass, where as parts for a 92 Regal with the 3800 may not all be the same. 

Edited Wednesday at 04:53 PM by Black92GS

[55trucker]

I went thru some of this non-compatible B.S some 11 years ago when I updated my A/C system to 134. 

I had already purchased a newer 134a compressor to replace the original R12 compressor that was leaking, at THAT time I didn't realize that the manifold hose assembly ends (fittings) had been redesigned for the 134a systems.

Seeing as I HAD to purchase the 134a manifold assembly for the redesigned compressor... I did NOT want to replace all of the other hardware, the new manifold would NOT fasten to the older receiver/dryer because the threads were altered........

all of this fell into play as I had also updated the brake vacuum booster, the larger booster required a *newer* 134a liquid side A/C delivery pipe. The newer pipe was redesigned to go under & around the larger dia booster & would NOT fasten to the older design receiver/dryer, the fitting threads were not the same.

I had to cut off the ends of the newer pipes & cut off the ends of the original & swap the old fittings to the new pipes & tig them into place.

Hopefully you can avoid all of the B.S if you keep everything compatible.

The 96 V5 compressor is near identical to the older V5 with respect to its *clocking*,  what IS different (besides the rear housing casting) is the mounting points openings...where the older item has threads cut into the flanges the newer design sees thru openings with no threads cut. 

 

 

 

 

[Quaraxkad]

I'm not sure I'm 100% following your suggestions. It also conflicts with one of the *very* old L67 swap guides from motorswap.org, which says you need 3.4 DOHC (assuming LQ1?) lines. If *that* is true, then I already have all the correct lines because they are shared with the LH0 in the '92 Cutlass.

I'm posting photos and what I've found so I can try to decipher the specific differences between at least these three models.

92 Cutlass, 3.1 LH0 and 3.4 LQ1:

 

92 Regal, 3.8 L27:

 

98 Lumina LTZ, 3.8 L36:

 

 

All of these share the same evaporator, so that's not an issue.

 

There are two condensors, they have slightly different dimensions (and may or may not physically fit if interchanged), and while the inlet and outlets apparently have the same fittings, they are positioned slightly different.

52452050 (89-93 and 94 Lumina):

52481282 (94-01):

 

There are several different driers. Looks like all w-body up to 93, plus 94 Lumina all have the same one with threaded connectors, one male and one female. There's another from 94-97 that *looks* the same with one male and one female threaded, and a service port added. Possibly interchangable. The one in the 98 Lumina is unique to only the 98-01 Lumina and Monte, with one threaded and one o-ring compression fitting. These are obviously not interchangable without also changing both lines.

2724686 (87-93 and 94 Lumina):

2724929 (94-97):

01132767 (98-01 Lumina and Monte):

 

 

 

The compressors probably have many versions, but just looking at these three cars we have: 89018893 in 89-93 and 94 Lumina, all without 3.8L. 89019355/1522130 in 89-94 with 3.8L. 89018897/1521662 in 96-04 with 3.8. Supercharged 3.8L 95's (and 94 S/C Regals) got their own compressor, 19169371/1520434. Between these there are at least three different fitting types: HD6, HR6, and V5. The aftermarket for these is all mixed up, showing multiple types available for the same car, so I don't know which is which! 

For comparison, here's the back of a V5:

And an HR6 (suction and discharged are swapped but otherwise looks the same aside from being polished and the rotation which may be the part itself and/or just the photo position):

Another labeled HR6 that looks completely different from the previous:

And I couldn't find a clear picture of an HD6, it might just be a mislabeled HR6.

 

Now for the lines...

From the drier to the evaporator. 10223050 in 88-93 and 94 Lumina. 19244605 in 94-97 (also listed for 95-97 Lumina and Monte even though there's a separate part number for those). 10445945/1531213 in 95-01 Lumina and Monte.

From the evaporator to the condenser. 10220973 in 89-93 and 94 Lumina. 1533130/10190636 in 94-97. 10407722 in 98-01 Lumina and Monte.

From the compressor to condenser and drier. 14099685 in 92-94. 52362087/1530113 in 92-93 Regal 3.8L. 10226168/1530241 in 94-95 Regal 3.8L. 10407721 in 98-99 Regal and Lumina 3.8.

 

Now... Have I gotten myself any closer to picking which components and lines I need?! I don't think so!  I assume I will need a compressor out of another 3.8, maybe specifically a Series II 3.8, just to get it mounted to the engine?