T85 a/c comp. change to diff. make?

[auditude at cox.net]

Hi,

Speaking of a/c, this summer it'll once again be hell here in AZ, so I need to get some plans in place.

Has anyone here successfully swapped the York compressor for a completely different type of compressor, like from a different car?  It seems to me it would involve brackets, pulleys, and hose fittings.

I can weld up my own brackets, but need to figure out what type of compressor would be easiest and best to use.  Is the stuff from the VW parts bin the same as the Audi stuff?

I understand a good one to switch to would be a Sanden unit?  Is that a brand name and/or a design?

I replaced the compressor in my Saturn with a used one from a junkyard with a lifetime warranty for like $80 or something.  So far so good with that one.  The problem with trying that would be that it has a ribbed serpentine belt.

Do the compressor shafts come in different sizes?  I imagine one couldn't just swap pulleys with some other compressor and line it up with the belt.  I don't want to change the o.d. of the shaft or use a bushing or  anything like that.

My friend commented that he believed the majority of compressors all spin the same direction, perhaps with the exception of Honda's because there's talk elsewhere about their motors spinning the other way.  Is that true?

I imagine besides all the fitment issues, as far as sizing is concerned it just have to be from a car with a similar cabin volume, or what?

May as well switch to a compressor that is for an R134 car.  Do the low/high pressure switched need to be changed to work with the different refrigerant?  What are the pitfalls for this?

Thanks,

Ken