AC pump/compressor color?

[Lord Warlock]

1969 stock AC system, looking at unit on engine that pulleys attach to, I have two separate units,  one looks black, there are metal caps bolt on sections where the paint has come off in areas and can see bare metal, but the center heavy metal section looks to be painted black on the one that came off the engine most recently.  The second one that I pulled down off a shelf looked cleaner overall, but when cleaning it, the unit looked bronze colored in several areas,  which makes me wonder if all of them came painted a standard color, or if some were painted body color or a different color.  Its  possible the black paint has come off more of the 2nd unit and the metal color underneath was bronze.  It isn't rusted from what I can see, but when I washed it off and it was wet, it looked a reddish color which reminds me of bronze,  I've seen chargers that color before but it wasn't the color of either of the chargers I would have gotten the compressor from.

Both are making some grinding or rubbing noise when the pulley is moved manually.  I figure I can take the pulley off and see what needs to be done to make each move silently or smoothly without noise.  Is there a bearing on the pulley assembly?  I'll try to take the pulley off the compressor in the next several days, but when I put it back together, i'll need to paint each part and would prefer to make it look stock if possible.

LW

[Pete in NH]

I've never seen an RV-2 compressor and the metal parts of the hoses that attach to it painted anything but a semigloss black. If the paint is off the metal muffler cans you may be seeing some of the brazed seams which are a bronze color but, there isn't too much of it.

When you are turning the pulley, you are really only turning the outer rear part of the electromagnetic clutch assembly. Under that assembly there is a magnet coil. There is a big ball bearing in the clutch assembly that can be replaced. You have to pull the clutch assembly off the complessor by removing the bolt in the center and using a puller that threads into the clutch inner treads in the hub and presses against the compressor shaft. If you have a factory service manual, it's in there about replacing the clutch bearing. The last time I looked those bearings where getting pricey. Be careful not to loose the woodruf key when you pull the clutch off.

If I had things apart that far and wanted to operate the AC system in the future I would replace the shaft seal assembly in the RV-2 and change the oil in it.

[Lord Warlock]

Painted the primary unit gloss black today, Left the 2nd unit alone for now.  Have to decide whether to take the compressor to the AC shop next week,  they'd be able to rebuild it better than I could.  I can get it apart easy enough, but rebuilding it right is sometimes best left to those with the right parts and tools.