AC Compressor Removal/Rebuild???

[89hatchieaccord]

This may be a total noob thread but here's the deal: just bought an 89 accord dx manual tranny carbed. Previous owner did a lot of work to it. Said the AC compressor went out and he cut the belt. Even though I live in south Alabama, I'm totally fine with no AC. I'll probably be installing a Weber carburetor and cleaning up the engine compartment down the road anyway. 2 questions: I think it might be a fun project to do a rebuild on the compressor and then bench test it to see if it still works. Is this even possible?...The compressor is still in the car but has no belt. Is it doing anything to hurt my power/fuel consumption or is it in any way bad to let it sit there? Should I go ahead and remove it? I've been distracted by some no crank no start issues related to the clutch saftey switch and a bad battery cable (that was after installing new battery and starter...yeah I'm a dumbass) so I haven't messed with it or looked at it too much yet. Basically my priorities with this car are to make it mechanically sound, improve performance, cosmetic modifications, then make it more comfortable. I may end up wanting ac down the road but it's low on the list. That's what those big windows are for. Thanks for any help!

[Dr_Snooz]

A "rebuild" usually implies taking it completely apart, cleaning it, replacing any worn parts and all seals and putting it back together again. In your case, the teardown and cleaning will be easy. Replacing parts and seals will be the impossible part as they aren't made anymore. It's better to replace it with a reman unit.

[ecogabriel]

If the compressor is a Nippondenso part, you may still be able to find some parts. It depends what went wrong with it though. If it got stuck because of lack of oil... i would say it is most likely gone.
When the AC pressure switch near the filter blew up, I replaced the front shaft seal in my compressor (it leaked slowly from there), plus the compressor body seals, and some of the orings in the suction and discharge ports. Also have to replace the discharge hose (hard as a rock and leaking a little). Bought mineral oil and got the good old stuff refrigerant and everything went back to normal - cold AC in oven-like ATL

You would need to google for the parts. you may remove it, go to a hardware store and get something to plug the hoses so no sh... would get in there. I got some rubber plugs that fit perfectly even allowing to pull vacuum and check for leaks.

If you can fix it, DO NOT FORGET TO REPLACE THE CORE VALVES IN THE HIGH AND LOW PRESSURE PORTS. Get good cores (got mine for free from a HVAC technician) and GET THE DAMN CAPS IF THEY ARE NOT THERE... got mine from the junkyard. Core valves almost always leak a little, so the caps prevent more leaking.