My '84 with air was converted by pulling the old freon out, adding oil, no seals
etc. and adding 134a.  Cost--nothing.  Sold the freon to the guy doing it as a
swap.  You own the freon.

It has been running trouble free for about 18 months
davidb

The Bus Depot wrote:

> I have had a number of inquiries recently regarding the available of R134
> conversion kits for converting your Vanagon air conditioning system to
> accept the new refrigerant.
>
> I do have conversion kits available for $29.95.  This includes o-rings, oil,
> and the other small items you need to convert your Vanagon to accept the new
> refrigerant.  You will also need a new receiver/dryer, which is $59.95.  My
> air conditioning supplier tells me that the remaining parts in the Vanagon
> system should be able to accept the new refrigerant as-is, and I also seem
> to recall having read a VW service bulletin to the same effect.  You must be
> careful to completely bleed the system before putting in the R134.
>
> Part number for the kit is 04002, and it should be on the website by Monday.
> There are three receiver/dryers, with some overlapping of year applications,
> which are already on the website at $59.95.  '83-85 only used one model
> receiver/dryer.  But '86-up used a few different ones. Best bet is to
> include with your order a *very* detailed description of where the inlet and
> outlet are on your receiver/dryer (i.e. 180 degrees apart from eachother or
> 90 degrees, pointing straight out or pointing down, coming out of the top of
> the unit or out of the side).  That way I can make sure you get the right
> one, as the VW microfiche does not appear to be completely accurate as to
> which Vanagons used which.
>
> Thanks,
> Ron Salmon
> The Bus Depot, Inc.
> http://www.busdepot.com