ok so I have done a search on the forum for this subject, and yes there are many bits of info about it but I wanna ask, What is the best, inexpensive route to getting my a/c cold again, I have R-12 in my 89 bonneville, and I have a few options:
Buy shady products on ebay
Pay $50 @ the junkyard to have it recharged with recovered R-12 from scrapped cars
Buy a conversion kit @ walmart (dunno about this one and the life of my AC system)
suffer the heat

Any ideas?

ive never seen the wal mart conversion kit, but that kinda sounds iffy, the "shady" products on ebay might not be the worst, ive looked into "autofrost" myself but never purchased it, not sure if anyone on here has expierimented with them or not. just dont buy anything with butane or propane or anything highly explosive like that. i would try the junkyard first if they'll gurantee that it works, at least thats what i would do if i were you (do most junkyards do this? anyone know?)

and of course a good old 4-60 air condition always does the job too

R12 isn't feasible anymore. If you are going to spend the money on some bootleg R12, you may as well pay a shop to do it right and then you'll have a refrigerant that you can afford to replace if it leaks. If your system is old and leaking, and it is or it would still be blowing cold air, your best bet is to pay someone to fix it right.
But if you are a cheapskate like me, buy the R134a conversion kit at Wal Mart. If you screw this up you can hurt yourself, but if you do it right, you'll get cold air again. Mine needs topped off with a can or two through the summer, but it is still cheaper than the $1000 estimate I got from an AC specialist for a full system conversion, including a new compressor. So I look at it this way, if my compressor locks up because I screwed up charging it, I can still drive the car if I get a shorter belt to bypass the compressor. Then I'm back to square one needing a full system overhaul and new compressor. But so far so good. I have been enjoying my AC for two hot summers with this kit.
The can tapper that came with my kit was a plastic piece of junk. It froze and cracked. I ended up buying a better one made of brass. You should still buy the kit, because it has the fittings in it that fit the can adapter to the valves in your R12 system.
If you do this yourself and it is your first time, I recommend wearing safety glasses and some kind of gloves to insulate your hands from the cold. Read the directions and it should be a piece of cake. I might have just toughed it out, but I am a cheapskate and my health is such that I can't take the heat like I could when I was younger. I also have a friend that does HVACR work that can vacuum out the system for me. Big important step there.

Assuming you can fix any leaks, R12 will make the car the coldest. R134 will never be quite as cold. R12 is often available on ebay, and an EPA license to purchase it can be earned with an online test as well.

My Buick has perfectly cold air with its R12, and if anything ever happened to the AC system, it will be charged up with R12 once again.

I had a Cutlass Ciera that was converted to R134 and its cooling was awful after the conversion, so it was changed back to R12.

Here is a link you want to look into, Im still looking for the web site I lost awhile back which is a carbon based alternate, Ill post it back when I find it, In the mean time freeze 12 is better than OEM R-12 in thermal tranfer, and reqiures less head pressure, saving energy and fuel.
And requires no changing any hardware, keep your OEM system intact. Get you going now, unless you need to fix your leak first!

Web Site: http://autorefrigerants.com/co00030.htm

PS When I find the other product Ill show you how you can replace your R-12 and Home R-22 with this stuff, 33% lower head pressures, 30% or better thermal assorption, AND NEEDS NO SUCTION TO LOAD, AND DOESNT CARE ABOUT MOISTORE, Unlike amonia base refredgerants

I've used Freeze12, and while it did work, the price is insane.

Recovering R-12 from cars going to the scrapper is waaaay cheaper.

If your system is leaking it needs fixed either way, filling it in not the answer.

well I think my car has a slow leak, because the AC still works, just not as well as it used to, and its taken 4 years for it to get to the point its at now. I dunno, I'm no mechanic, although sometimes I wish I were. (gives me a backache thinking about it LOL!)

There'* some R12 in the For Sale section right now. Use what you need, sell the rest. It'* a smokin' deal at that price.