I finally took the plunge & had my AC done.Cost me $550 for new compressor & clutch,$65 for new drier, $180 for new Freon,labor was $200,NYC sales tax $82.88 for a total of $1077.88.Expensive? yes! but to me my car is still worth it even at 138K.I was told I could have had R-134a put in at a cost of $85 & saved $95 but I feel that the Volvo AC is weak enough with Freon & 134a is not as good a coolant.I did consider doing it myself & converting to R-134a but after I considered the alternatives I felt that I would at best wind up with a system that would not really cool as well & at worst spending a lot of money & effort with no result.I also feel that a proper conversion to R-134a would entail an almost complete replacement of my AC system.Let's face it,this is a 1982 car that was built to work with Freon R-12.I posted on this bulletin board asking advice & perused the Aircondition.com & others.I considered alternatives such as cooltop,Frigic-12 etc. but also heard tales of compressor failure & other problems.I heard enough horror stories about the Interdynamics kit sold by JCW.Perhaps it is good for '89-'92 year cars that were built in anticipation of the use of R-134a but not sure.From what I learned is that Air conditioning repairs is a real science that is best left to skilled pro's.Dealing with different gas pressures & knowing what gas or oil is or is not compatable does take a lot of skill & time to learn.After all,we do leave dental work & other things to skilled experts. I figure that I do enough myself(tune-ups suspension repairs,timing belt,motor mounts,water pump,some electrical,rebuilt my own seats,maintainance etc.)that I normally do not go to this shop except for inspections , tire repairs & alignment.I also feel that they do good work. A few weeks later me & my wife drove south from NY to Va. & Fla.Boy was it great to have AC again even though it did get a bit overwhelmed by the heat there but it was OK all around.On that account I am glad I decided to forego the $95 "saving" of using R-134a.Ironiclly it was NYC that had a brutal heat wave with the temp of up to 103F while Fla. was cooler.The trip put on another 3K+ miles & it still works good at 142,569 miles.

One thing is for sure, if I ever do pick up a "Beater" it better have good AC.If it has a broken tranny,needs brake & suspension work,Body & fender work,mounts , water pump,some rust etc. thats OK.Perhaps in the future they will have some thing that is economical for older cars that the average DIY can use as far as AC is concerned but in any event I will live with my decision with NO regrets.