64 A/C Woes

[Jace H.]

The A/C in my 64 coupe had been working fine after a re-chagre until last week. Went out for a drive and turned the A/C on and within a few seconds I smelled faint a burning rubber smell. Turned the A/C off, drove back to the shop, popped the hood with motor running turned on the A/C and discovered small bits of rubber flying off the end of the compressor. It is not coming from the belt. It is coming from the rubber cap on the end of the compressor. Anyone experienced this? What's the deal?? (My A/C setup is factory original).

Thanks,
Jace Holt
28944

[Gary N.]

Re: 64 A/C Woes

I just had the same problem on my 66' coupe. The rubber separated from the clutch disc. I believe there are three rivets the hold the rubber to the front part of the clutch disc. I had to have a new clutch put on. I believe it can be done on the car if you can find a good shop that still works on the A-6 compressors and you won't have to drain the R-12 freon from the system. I took my compressor off and took it to a shop and also had new seals put in, since it was slinging oil. Can you turn the front rubber hub by hand? The reason is to see if the compressor is locked up and that may have caused the clutch to go. I could turn my still by hand, so I figured the compressor was still OK. It seem to be working fine now.

[Jack H.]

Re: 64 A/C Woes

You can R&R the compressor clutch yourself, on car, without dumping refigrerant as Gary said. BUT, Gary's counsel on the A-6 compressor's front bearings being a common Achilles' Heel issue is well said!

If the front bearing/seal assy is history, you have to dig deeper into the A-6 and that entails more special tools + losing your Freon and re-charging plus it's almost always a matter of pulling the compressor from the car and doing the work on the bench...

To simply R&R the clutch, step by step instructions are given in the Corvette Shop Manual and the special tool you need is commonly available off-the-shelf from most major auto parts stores (about $30).

One caution is to READ and heed the service manual because you need to set the air gap between the clutch and the compressor's drive plate properly! That's pretty straight forward with a set of feeler gauges and the special tool.

You can either buy a replacement clutch assy, or visit your local auto scrap yard for a used original compressor to use as a donor (typically $15 or so)...

[Jace H.]

Re: 64 A/C Woes

Gary and Jack,

Thanks for the reply.

Jace