How long did it take you to do it?? I found an entire factory air kit for $560 plus shipping. Do you have any instructions on doing this?

It took an good afternoon. I dont have any "written" instructions, but I can answer your questions.

ok, I'll keep that in mine when the time comes, thx

Gary,

You need a really powerful air compressor to make the"air vac" work. You are better off to get a real vacuum pump to do the job.

How many PSIs? I did research on this and in order for me to pull a decent vacuum, I need to do it when it's HOT.. like over 100deg. I forget the reasoning....

To the canadians: can you guys still get R12?
Gary

At least 90 psi with at least 6 cubic feet per minute capacity. The air compressor will need to be fairly big (5 gallon or larger) to deliver a sustained blast of 90 psi.

Heed the advice of someone who has been where you're going. Forget the Air-Vac and get a small rotary vane vacuum pump.

The one I bought was a FJC model 6908. It is a single stage pump with 1.5 cubic feet per minute "suction". It does the job and only cost $99 plus shipping.

As to the ambient outside temperature "needed" to draw a deep vacuum. A strong vacuum can evaporate and pull out the water in the A/C lines regardless of the outside temp since the volume of air in the Civic system is relatively small (PV=nRT). Higher outside temperatures make it easier to draw a vacuum with a less powerful vacuum source (like that Venturi air vac you want to use). My FJC vacuum pump worked fine and it was only 50?F outside when I originally worked on mine in April 2006.

As I mentioned earlier, get the proper tool for the job and make it easier on yourself - especially since you have not done the job before. But as many have said YMMV.

I have a 20gallon tank. Yeah, I will look into the rotary vacuum pump.
Where can I get one at that price?

Thanks,
Gary

Just take the mfg & model # FJC 6908 and do a search on Google or yahoo. I bought this pump from an internet seller - not ebay as I recall anyway. You should be able to get one for no more than $125 still. Not many rental places carry these but you might get lucky find one to rent.

Excellent point. You CAN use R134a in system designed for R12. But you will inevitably end up with a poorly performing A/C if you do. So if you DON'T want to deal with trying to obtain R12, it is best to find a system that was designed to use R134a.

As for retrofitting a Civic without A/C, I have found this to be quite an easy affair. From my experience, everything is pretty much plug-and-play when it comes to installing a FACTORY A/C on a car that did not come with A/C wen new. The same probably cannot be said about aftermarket units.

I converted the Nissan I had and it was working fine when I sold it 2 years later. I converted the wife's 4runner at the same time and 4 years later the AC is still cold. Neither produced cold air as well as they were with R12, but they are cold enough.