well, i just made the most cost effective fix EVER!!

i spent $8 on a new vacuum check valve, $1 on a foot of small vacuum hose, and $.49 on a small hose clamp. as a result, i now have AC, cruise, defrost, foot vents, and recirculate again. not bad, eh?

now that this all works, i still have the old problem of the foot vents coming on when i'm, say, coming to the top of a hill in third and should probably downshift to second. i figured it was a vacuum problem, or maybe a spring somewhere had deteriorated. any ideas on the specifics?

oh, and i need to thank everyone for the help with the stalling problems. i can't pinpoint what it was because i cleaned the throttle body, IAC, and replace the vacuum check valve all at once. but i know that SOMETHING worked!

thanks