Here's the poop on the compressor. It wound up costing about $400 for the compressor(plus labor) and another $100 for the conversion kit. Much to their suprise, the compressor did not come with the converted seal, so back to Volvo Parts distribution cener for a $6 seal (no charge). This is a 'different compressor' (can't remember the brand) and Napa didn't have the seal. I could have left it unconverted, but it seems that R12 will be very hard to come by as of July this year.

My mechanic had not seen many of these go bad in the 900 series, but frankly there is no one I would rather have done this job than Randy (certainly NOT some unknown idoit at an AC shop who has never seen a 960, let alone work on one) I trust his judgement like I would my own brother, if I had one (maybe that's a bad comparison).

The total bill for the 90K with fluid changes and the compressor switch was $1100..all that and a car wash too! This is not something I would have tried myself, so despite the unexpected bill, I feel good that he did the job rather than some yahoo in Baltimore.