Tom928

I did a search on rebuilding the evaporator/heat exchanger box and only found some info on cleaning the blower motor and replacing the resistor pack.

I have a spare Evaporator/Exchanger that is out of the car and I would like to rebuild it and replace the one in my 81 when I pull the dash to recover it.

Has anyone done this?
If you have BTDT, let me know what to watch out for.
also, the PO told me the A/C had been converted to R134 - does that require a different evaporator or heat exchanger core?

Thanks,

Z928328

This Evaporator or Cooling coil as we call it here. Anybody of pictures of the process of replacing it? I know the whoe dash have to come off.

Z

drwhosc

i am doing one on a 3 series bmw right now. unfortunately not sure how it works on a 928, but on the bmw you have to take the whole interior apart. given what this is i bet you have to do the same. i look forward to seeing what others say. on the bmw i say this is about the same as pulling an engine given the amount of work,

Alan

You you have to remove the whole dash... you sure you need to? There is no difference in the eveaporator for R134a. you casn clean and flush the core in place - only reason to swap/rebuild would be leaks...

If I were doing this I'd replace with new (if available) or known good - why trust a repair to a part that is usually very reliable.... and has a huge replacement labor cost and/or hassle factor...

Alan

SQLGuy

You do not need to replace the evaporator(s) for 134a, and the heater core is just for heating (i.e. engine coolant), so it's not affected regardless.

I did such a rebuild on a VW Golf, but never on a 928. On the Golf I used self-adhesive weather stripping from Home Depot to replace a lot of the disintegrated foam that was used on the edges of the control flaps.

Tom928

Thanks for the feedback. I am glad to hear the evaporator is the same for R134a.
I guess I’m in rarely covered territory here.

I do understand what a royal PITA this is going to be; however, I have been putting off the dash recover for 3 years now due to the amount of work that is involved.
I also have a steering bearing going out and need to replace it. Since the 4.5L sprung a head gasket leak, I plan on swapping in a 4.7L.

With the engine and dash out of the car, I figure this will be a perfect time to rebuild the spare evaporator and have it ready to swap in as the dash goes back together.

Any and all suggestions appreciated.
Cheers,