Help Me Pleeeez!!

hey can anybody help me please? i have an 87 cutlass ciera 2.8 and the pulley for the AC (i dont know the name for it) i think its the condensor i dont know but its the one with the pulley on it and it has the hose hooked to the AC so i know its the AC. well anyway its was like smoking and throwing little shards of metal last wednesday, so i left it home while i went on vacation with my parents. well i came back yesterday thinkin it wasnt too big of a deal, and i thought id ask you guys if there was anyway to overide it, or disconnect it cuz my AC does know work and i dont wanna put like $200 into fix that if the AC doesnt work anyway. but now that i think of it, this guy that put new exhaust on my car a few months ago looked at my AC and said it wasnt worth fixing cuz the condensor was shot, and it would cost about $800 to fix. now im worried. what do i do?

the pulley for the AC is shot, is there anyway to disconnect it so i dont have to fix it and the pulley will still turn? and if not what is the part called and is it gonna cost $800? thanks for reading and any help you give me.

just go get a non-AC belt that is for your car at the part store. that way you could just bypass the A/C compressor.

i thought about doin that, but it wouldnt work cuz the belt would not touch the water pump. cuz the way the belt is, the groove side goes around the right of the AC compressor, and then the flat side goes back to the left of the water pump but if i bypass the AC compressor it wont turn the water pump. i cant explain it, youd have to see it to understand.

i think the non-AC model have a extra idler pulley in order for the belt to work. if you don't want to spend alot of money, i think you should just get a compressor from junk yard and replace the one you have now.

ok i guess ill do that. is it hard to replace? any tips you can give me before i do it? thanks for your help.

i don't think it is too hard to replace the compressor, but before you disconnect anything you have to release whatever you still have inside the system. Venting R12 into the air is illegal. to take it off i think you just have to take off the belt, 2 hose connected to the compressor and couple bolts that hold the compressor in place. and also any electrical connector that connect to the compressor.