Steve,
While not the most pleasant of tasks, it's not really too hard to do.
Disconnect the battery. The obvious items to remove are the right seat and the glove box. Before removing the glove box's right side pivot screw, place a rag over the fuse panel and around the hole in the rocker panel (where the hoses enter the cabin). If you drop anything into the rocker panel, it can be difficult to retrieve.
On the fuse panel, remove the two retaining nuts (one is at the top, and the other is at the bottom), slide the fuse panel off of the studs, and swing it out of the way. This will give you more working room when removing / installing the hoses.
Make sure that the refrigerant system has been depressurized before removing any of the hoses.
Once the hoses have been disconnected from the evaporator / expansion valve and the compressor, you should be able to pull them out of the rocker panel. The old hoses will most like be quite stiff, but they will come out. Sometimes it is helpful to cut one end of the hose just above the rocker panel.
Start with the smaller hose. Tie a wire or a small diameter rope onto the end of the hose. This will be used to pull in the new hose.
The hoses will most likely have some oil in them. Take care so that it doesn't drain some place that you don't want it to, like the carpet.
Once the old hoses have been removed, tie the pull cord onto the first hose and pull it through. A second person is VERY helpful when doing this.
Make sure that BOTH ends of your new hoses are capped either with a plug or tape. You DO NOT want ANY contaminants to enter the hoses.
I would suggest starting with the larger diameter hose first.
I've attached a pic of my early '71 (#1490) with the dash removed, which should give you a better visual of what's behind the dash.
John
Attachments
Images (1)
