Factory AC can work great with R-134A if you know a few secrets
Secret 1) The Chinese expansion valves ALL SUCK and flood the compressor. I damaged 3 compressors before I figured this out. Get a NOS one, yes it is R12 but it is really only a couple degrees off for super heat and will work fine.
Secret 2) Aftermarket RV-2 rebuilds suck for the most part. Get a real Chrysler core and pull it apart. You can get NOS piston and rod kits with gaskets very inexpensively on eBay. Make sure if it is an older one with the hole for the check ball and spring is installed! Useful Link:
Secret 3) The '73 front end on the '72 took more like 3 cans to get things working well vs the 2.3 cans I calculated using 80% of what is holds with R12. Charge it so the high side is about 2.2 to 2.5 the ambient air temperature. It got down to about 36F a few minutes after I took this photo. I was cold when I got home. It was 85 and a high sun load.
Secret 4) Use only a NOS shaft seal, they are so much better quality than the aftermarket and work fine with R134A
Secret 1) The Chinese expansion valves ALL SUCK and flood the compressor. I damaged 3 compressors before I figured this out. Get a NOS one, yes it is R12 but it is really only a couple degrees off for super heat and will work fine.
Secret 2) Aftermarket RV-2 rebuilds suck for the most part. Get a real Chrysler core and pull it apart. You can get NOS piston and rod kits with gaskets very inexpensively on eBay. Make sure if it is an older one with the hole for the check ball and spring is installed! Useful Link:
Secret 3) The '73 front end on the '72 took more like 3 cans to get things working well vs the 2.3 cans I calculated using 80% of what is holds with R12. Charge it so the high side is about 2.2 to 2.5 the ambient air temperature. It got down to about 36F a few minutes after I took this photo. I was cold when I got home. It was 85 and a high sun load.
Secret 4) Use only a NOS shaft seal, they are so much better quality than the aftermarket and work fine with R134A
