[DeTomaso] AC

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

The brass mushroom under the dash is the expansion valve, and the only known 
trick is, it has a small conical screen inside the slde leg of the valve, to 
catch debris. Old ones are usually plugged solid with old rubber flakes & 
dessicant powder, which is the main reason cooling drops-m theres no freon flow! 
Pull the screen out with a hooked scribe & soak for a day or so in lacquer 
thinner to soften the dried rubber, then blow it dry. New expansion valves are 
supposedly 'calibrated' for the higher freon flow that R-134a needs to get decent 
cooling in an old system. The filter screen is left out too, but your OEM 
screen (once cleaned) can be added. As for the valve itself, the thing is all 
brass & really cannot "wear out", and it's absurdly easy to crack an evaporator 
fitting up under the dash when R & R-in the valve or trying to stop a leak, so 
I'd restrict work to just removing & cleaning the screen. By the way, piecing a 
system together from various cars' parts normally does not work well. Dave 
Doddek in IL <a74pantera at pobox.com> has extensively fiddled with the stock A/C 
unit and has had better luck than most. Good luck- J DeRyke (still piecing one 
together)