I think my username was Wild Irish before, but I tried it (and its various spellings) and none of them worked, so I used my other forum name.

I found a few compressors online, but the cheapest looks to be about $250 for a refurb and around $385 for a new one, so it looks like I'm in pretty deep. That sux.

Summer is almost over, but that AC can really help to defog the windows in winter.

try the local junkyards, the one a few miles from me sells them for $100 but places like pick-n-pull sell them for cheaper ive seen as low as $25

A friend had an '87 Bonneville where the a/c compressor froze up....stopped the engine dead...had to have it towed. We then put a shorter belt on it to bypass the a/c until it could be repaired. If you can't get to repairing it fairly soon, you may want to consider that option.

Check and see if the AC clutch plate has closed its gap and is causing the grinding. There should be a 20 to 30 thousandth of an inch gap between the outer clutch plate and the pulley. If this is the problem you may not need a new compressor.

I dont know where you live but i have all the tools to evacuate and recharge an ac system along with the 134a to recharge it with. Its a very easy process and technically if u wanted to relieve pressure then vent the system into the air even though it is kind of bad but not as bad as venting R12..

Usually with wear the gap opens wider. There used to be adjusters on the clutch plate to adjust air gap.

the clutch plates on my A/C compressor were making some pretty bad noise for a long time. Got them regapped and the metal on metal sound went away. On a cold start I still get a metal on metal sound but I don't know where it is comming from.

when those clutch plates rub it is quite loud.