Post a picture of the condenser when you get it out. Had a peek through the rad/condenser shroud and I'm pretty sure it's the piccolo one. If it is, I'll give it a try to flush/clean it, but I may end up just replacing it. Assuming I can find one that will fit in the original hole. Seems most guys ...

One of the problems with keeping the right tools & parts out of the hands of home mechanics - is "magic in a can" . I found plenty of that. If you have a 6mm Piccolo condenser, you can't flush it. Modern parallel flow condensers have multiple paths. One can be completely blocked, and ...

All of the corvettes of that era around here seem to have a first generation 6mm piccolo condenser. What you are describing sounds like a blocked parallel flow condenser. High pressures with poor heat rejection - all of the refrigerant going through a few open channels. I used to see a couple of Ma...

I don't know much about Redtek R-12a and have never used it, but I understand that charging a system with R-12a requires roughly one-half the original R-12 amount. Your Corvette's specs call for 44 ounces of R-12 and 8.0 ounces of mineral oil. Did you reduce the R-12a charge accordingly? yep. Even ...

Was the compressor original to the car? I understand the canuckistan issue with getting R12 to put it back in spec. Of all of the HC refrigerants I have experimented with, envirosafe had the best blend for R12 replacement. Seemed to mimic r12 well enough to make the fussy Cadillac systems work. re-...

1500 rpm. Just above 50 psi low, roughly 350 psi high. The low side seems high to me at 1500. I don't doubt the vehicle is not cooling well. Concerns: Refrigerant type. Corvette with a laid back condenser, not removing heat load. Cycling point with blended refrigerant. Is the system cycling and at ...

While running. Spray the condenser with a mist of water. Record low/high pressure at 1500 rpm. As well asa vent temps. Repost readings. 1500 rpm. Just above 50 psi low, roughly 350 psi high. Vent temps: no change from ambient. Actually, it got a few degrees warmer than ambient. I would suspect that...

Tim wrote:While running. Spray the condenser with a mist of water. Record low/high pressure at 1500 rpm. As well asa vent temps. Repost readings.

Car is in the garage right now, but will give it a go once I can get it out.

From the photo, the car looks to be in great shape. Enjoy! You mentioned a couple of things that I'll start with. How did the oil look when you drained the compressor...clear, cloudy, or dark? And what type of contamination was on the OT...black oily residue, metallic particles, plastic particles, ...

I bought an 88 Corvette convertible last year for the missus and I in our retirement. There were a few things wrong with it so we got it at a good price. All the problems were things I could handle without need for a shop. or so I thought...... One of those things was the AC. The system was flat and...