1997 3.1L a/c by-pass pulley?

My a/c unit has not worked for several years (blows hot air). I want to remove the a/c compressor and replace it with a bypass pulley. Is this a pretty straight forward repair? Anything special I need to know?

After starting my car this am and letting it warm up for about 5 minutes, I went outside and it was making a 'bell/ringing/chinging' like sound and found the noise was coming from the a/c compressor. I put a little oil between the pulley and the clutch and the noise stopped. MUST drive north in 2 days, so going to attempt the fix myself in 12 hours.

Nothing special. You'll pretty much ruin your A/C for life once you open it up and leave it exposed to the elements. If that's not a problem, go for it. If you have any hopes for ever getting it fixed, I'd do something different.

Maybe a junkyard compressor and some new o-rings?

agree with leaving it alone. You just have a clutch plate misaligned a bit causing the ringing.