Thanks! It all makes perfect sense now. I looked at the stator and indeed the coils were exposed. I looked at the one on the compressor I just picked up and it was like night and day.
Just for kicks, I put the rotor on and it spins without resistance, so this weekend, I'll put the stator on too.
Thanks to all of you for your help.
More later...

 

Okay, I put in the new/used stator I bought, installed the new/used rotor, and it works great. It's blowing cold air, operating quietly (the old bearing made a noise that was irritating and embarrassing) and I did it all for $85.00, saving myself the cost of a pump and the discharge/recharge of the system.

So, for the sake of adding to the knowledge data base, I have summarized what I learned below.

I've had an irritating "whirring" sound going on for the last two years. I changed the tensioners, which helped, but there was still a noise. A couple of weeks ago, the noise became a grind and I smelled something. I stopped the car immediately, and found that a black ooze was coming out from around the rotor of the A/C unit, spraying black ooze on the inside of the hood and around the belt.

Not wanting to spend the money on a new compressor or clutch, I set out to find out what was wrong. I found that the bearing was destroyed. The plastic on the bearing that holds the grease and ***** in place was gone. The resin (?) that is in the stator was melted away exposing the copper wires in the coils. This black ooze hardened to a cement too that made it hard to get everything apart. The rotor should just slip off after the pins come off, but I had to tap mine out.

I tried to get another bearing, but the OEM specked out a different one with a different bore than my car used. Mine was 1.2" but OEM was 1.57". I managed to find one and get it special ordered, but warped the rotor to where it bound up when I tried to turn it, costing $35. If I were to do that again, I'd take it somewhere that had a press that could do it correctly. Going with the vice just didn't work out for me.

In the end, here was the solution.

I bought a complete clutch assembly from a Corvette junkyard for a 94 for $50. I was easily able to move the metal pipes to get the old rotor off without discharging the system. I replaced the stator, rotor, and pressure plate/shims, with the ones from the junk yard and it runs like a dream.

If I ever hear the bearing again (as this is a 17 year old bearing) I'll have the other one pressed out of the old warped rotor, and have it pressed into the new one. According the the junk yard though, this one came out of a car with only 22,000 miles on it, so for now, I'm just going to enjoy another one of those rare and brief moments when all is good with my world.

Special thanks to all of you who helped me get my beautiful Corvette back on the road. I am whole again.

Bob 2.0

 

Glad to hear you got a hold of some good used parts and got it going again.

Word to the wise: From my experiece I wouldn't put too much faith in what a "junkyard" tells you something is or what the actual mileage might be on a part.

 

I'm with you bro, that's why I kept the new bearing and the old rotor on my shelf... if I hear that tell-tale bearing-going-out-sound again, I'll be ready.

 

I, too, have the 1.2 in. inside diameter bearing. I would like to just replace this since I can do that without losing my gas charge and my compressor seems to be fine. The difficulty is that the listings for my '88 Vette call for the 1.57 in. inside diameter bearing which clearly does not fit. Can anyone give me a part number or source for the 1.2 in. bearing that I need? Thanks in advance!

 

I dont remember the part number, but I finally located one in Bowling Green at a company called A.B. Crush (you can find them online). I just gave them the dimensions and they got me the right one. Word of warning though, I wished I'd have found a pro to press the old bearing out and put the new one in. I got mine in but the pully got warped in the process of using my vice to do the job, and was unusable.

 

I am one of the BloomingtonGold NCRS types, I have found two places that can rebuild your OE compressor for under $300. Dont think I am allowed to post their names on the forum (non supporting vendor and all) but search the internet for "air conditioning compressor automotive rebuild" and do a little leg work!

 

If you still need a compressor i have one with 5k on it out of my 91. I will sell it cheap to a fellow CF member.

 

Of course sell it to the original poster if he wants it, but if not, shoot me an email , I would like it.
corvette95@charter.net

 

I'll let ya know