Supposedly the Murray R4 heavy compressors that you can buy new at O'Reilly's is made in the US and it's $193 plus $10 core. I'd try that personally. Flushing components is easier with them out of the car but still not difficult in the car. Most of the AC tools you would need to do this job you can borrow from AutoZone though you have to be careful with used gauges as they can be leaky which can be maddening to track down.

I think the main reason these compressors grenade themselves is too high of pressures in the system due to inadequately sized condensers. R4s like to fail, but it's far less common in my experience to find a dead one on an old GM than an old Mercedes out in the parts yards, it's usually 1 in 2 Mercedes and 1 in 10 GMs. I always convert my cars to parallel flow condensers and R134 but I also own lots of AC tools so it's easy for me to do.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.