Personally I would shy away from a cheap condenser, a good used OEM unit is probably better.


I haven't had the misfortune of having to this job on my 850 yet. When I swapped the engine I left the compressor attached to the lines and let it sit on the sub-frame.


O-rings should always get swapped when the system is opened, I'm sure you know that. That said, I have reused them before in A/C jobs (simply due to time constraints and unavailability) and they have been OK. I have a cheap made in china sniffer that I runn over the entire system post work.


The PAG oil debate is always fun. Im not sure there is any correct answer to that but to vacuum the system as much as possible and measure the quantity vs. the manufacturers specs. I typically use an average between the two. Im doing a 134a conversion right now and was shocked that about only 2-3 oz. of oil came out of the compressor when I let it drain for a week!