New evaporator may be out of stock. I just ordered the compressor kit, an upgraded fan, and a set of crimpers for full size hoses. The person who was advising me said that the liquid line to the TXV needs to be reduced hose, and since that die costs about as much as it would to have the hose rebuilt, I'm just going to ship them the hose to rebuild for me - but I'll be replacing all of the suction side hoses, and between my PF condenser kit and the Sanden kit all of the high side hoses will be new. Also have all the ferrules and new ends for the hoses, except the custom bits for the suction lines that I'll have to re-use as they are not available. Will be getting some full sized #12 hose shortly as well.
The guy I was talking to advised me to take the evaporator in to a radiator shop to leak test, in case they are not able to source me a new one. If it is leaking, they said a shop might be able to repair it for me. I know it's a ton of work to pull it, but I was also pretty underwhelmed by the air speeds I was getting out of the vents, so even though I cleaned the coil with foaming cleaner, I might as well pull it to clean at the very least.

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'85 300D - federal spec, built in late 84. 85 300D Complete AC System Rebuild

Once the evaporator is out, pressurize it with compressed air, place condenser under water to test for leaks. I'd bet that's what the radiator shop would do.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I get the feeling that replacement evaporators are difficult to come by. I'd be super careful with the one you have. Rig up a pressure test setup like mine and test it in situ to make sure it is indeed leaking before pulling it to repair it.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked