How to: Add Air Conditioning to your CRX

I'm stuck in Chicago traffic at noon, or blasting down the highway trying to keep my hair in the car. A/C is no longer a luxury. So, on the hottest day of summer, I head to my local scrap yard to start stripping off the pieces I needed.

The summer of '99 was a [killer] for two weeks here in Northern Illinois. Normally, the sunroof will take care of it - or at least so I thought.

1st Mistake - Know ALL the items you'll need to take from your junked cars. This made one trip turn into 7.

2nd Mistake - Take a camera along to see how things are mounted and how they fit. You'll fumble around A LOT less later on. At least diagram where the parts came from, and what fasteners were used.

3rd Mistake - Always check if the systems are empty of freon. It's possible to flash freeze bare skin when you open up a charged tube and it sprays out. I ALMOST did that once.

Take a look at an online parts place like Majestic to see the diagrams of the parts you need.

New parts needed:
Desiccant can (dryer)
Ring gaskets (for R12 or R134)

At the salvage yard:

From the Engine compartment, start at the compressor and take EVERYTHING it connects to.

Compressor,
Compressor mount,
Toss out the desiccant can (but keep the rubber plug on the bottom and the aluminum spacer at its bolt point),
keep the switch,
Keep the ENTIRE wiring harness intact (every point can be disconnected instead of cut - normally) up to the piece that mounts on the firewall that has 2 vacuum hoses.
Keep the vacuum hoses connected to that piece and mark which end connects high and low on the throttle body. You will need the second diaphram on the trottle body, the one you don't have on your car (this is 1st gen specific, the ECU replaces this piece on the 2nd gens).
If the Condenser is still on the car (rarely), VERY CAREFULLY disconnect the tube and hoses. (otherwise go buy it from the yard office - make sure THEY remove the hoses first to make sure they're not seized tight) Take the 4 plug mount that the wiring harness plugs into.
Take the tubes all the way back to the firewall From inside the cockpit, (remove the glove compartment, you may have to detach the whole dashboard as well to get at everything.
Get the A/C switch of the environmental array. It pops out if you push it from behind with a thin screwdriver. It's also possible to wedge it out from the front - but you'll ding it up.
Get the evaporator from underneath the dashboard, it's black and left of the air blower. Take the silver hoop clamp from the blower as well.
Take the "Mitsuba" box off the wall next to the blower.
Disconnect the wiring harness from the blower and the connections under the carpeting.
That's it for the parts you need. I recommend keeping as many extra good fasteners as you can get, and take good notes as well. The biggest recurring problem I had was with Condenser fittings either seized solid or broken off. I went through 3 before I got a good one.

In your driveway:

You basically reverse the steps listed above. Start at the interior first and work your way forward. Though I've heard you can do this without loosening your dashboard, I personally don't believe it. Disconnect your speedometer cable if you have to do this by unclipping it from the tranny and feeding it through the firewall to give it slack.

Inside your interior:

Pop out the black tab (from the front) and pull out the blue electric plug. Plug it into the A/C Switch and "snap" it into the array.
Take off your glove compartment.
Take off the translucent pass though blower pipe. Give it to someone who's taking the A/C OFF their car (it happens).
Pull out the plug for the evaporator lines, pull out the plug for the carpeting and the condensed water tube as well.
You should find some unconnected wires in there as well. Connect these to the wire harness.
Wedge that #*^&$ bastard evaporator into the spot and loosely bolt it in. Make sure you put that hoop clamp on first! Tighten the clamp them tighten the mounting bolts.
Connect the wire harness to the blower.
Attach the Mitsuba box to the wall and connect it.

Inside your Engine bay:

Take this perfect moment and have your radiator serviced. Take it off and have a shop give it a good cleaning. It's MUCH easier to attach these parts with the radiator off! If you do it the HARD way (like me), try this while leaving the radiator on.
Attach the Compressor mount to the Engine block. You WILL have to re-tap these holes, as they are full of oil and road grime.
Attach the hoses to the compressor (both of them) and attach the compressor to the mount. (NOTE: if you're doing it the hard way, use a jack to raise it into position) You'll have to work the hoses around to get the thing in. Put your radiator back on if it was off.
String the wiring harness around the front of the car, attach the 4 plug mount, the radiator fan, the switch, the compressor, all the way around to the vacuum switch.
Mount the condenser and all tubing to evaporator, attach wire harness to motor. Attach vacuum switch to firewall and attach the vacuum hoses (they will be capped on the throttle body).

Take your car to the shop for R12, or DIY with R134 (NOTE: R134 uses a different set of ring gaskets, make sure you match the right sets!) I've also had great success with the R12 alternative called Duracool.

Let the rejoicing begin!