June 2005
Removing Avanti Evaporator

Having removed the evaporator in my 82' twice I can offer the following:
On the 82' you remove several self tapping screws (phillips) from the 
perimeter of the left and right side AC unit covers (covered in carpet 
on mine). These are the 2 bulges to the left and right of the console 
vents on the sides of the center console with small round louvers in 
them. Some of the screws are a little tough to find buried in the 
carpeting (glued over the plastic molded covers) but if you feel with 
your fingers you will find them. The ones nearest the gas pedal were 
the toughest to find and remove. Once the screws are removed the panels 
will pretty much fall off (if not, look for more screws)exposing the 
sides of the evap. case and blower housing. To remove the squirrel cage 
(blower) assembly and evap. housing from under the dash you WILL say a 
LOT of bad words so keep those with sensitive ears out of range. The 
assembly is held in place with a few bolts but was installed (on 
the "assembly line") BEFORE the console supports were rivited and 
bonded into place! You first remove the vent / control panel and 
label / disconnect the fan / compressor wiring from the switches. Then 
disconnect the blower / control wiring harness from under the dash 
(this connector is located almost directly above the point where the 
dash and console meet on the driver's side). I found it easist to 
remove the defroster ducts and heat plenum to make room to angle the 
evap. / blower assembly out of the passenger side opening between the 
console and dash. Note: after removing the bolts holding the evap. / 
blower assembly you will have just (barely) enough room to break the 
connections at the evap. and expansion valve fittings. I made the 
decision to remove, recondition or replace, and reinstall all of my 
cooling / heating system components (heater core, control valve, hoses, 
radiator, water pump, and electric fans) at the same time (if your 
cooling system isn't functioning efficiently your AC won't either) so 
all of those components were out at the time making assess a lot 
easier! Even with all this removed I still had to trim a fingernail 
shaped piece no more than 2" tall and 1/2" wide at the widest point 
from the console support (this support is clearly visible after 
removing the side panels and chrome trim from the console sides and is 
not affected by removing this material). You will be able to see the 
point of contact when trying to slide the assembly out. Once you have 
the assembly out, disassembly of the blower and housing is a snap and 
quite self explatitory. 
Have fun,
Tom Gorr
RQB3449

The AC (condensate) drain tube on my 82' runs from the fitting on the 
bottom of the evaporator housing through a hole in the trans tunnel 
and out over the passanger side of the transmission case. Before 
removal and replacement I also never saw any water on the ground. 
This was caused by 2 things: 1. AC (evaporator coil)that wasn't 
getting cold enough to condense much (the air movement produced by 
the fan would dry the coil before anything would drip). 2. The drain 
hose was clogged with 20 years'accumulated mold, dirt, leaves, and 
other assorted crud and would not allow any water that did collect to 
drain. NOW I get people asking if I know i have a leak under the car! 
If you eyeball the center of the AC unit in the car you can, from 
under the car, feel up the passanger side of thr trans and locate the 
tube. As they are black rubber they may be hard to see, may have 
gotten pushed up / kinked against the top of the trans by a careless 
mechanic, be melted closed, or even missing altogether (the molded 
nipple in the bottom of the evap. housing is VERY brittle anf fragile 
at this stage of most of our cars' lives so check for cracks if you 
have access)! If that is the case the water is draining into the 
passanger compartment!