R12, till 1994.

"Compressor death in a can".

It came stock with R12. There's no real reason to use anything else.

Ok, so my $125 car has an empty r12 ac system. I'm lookin
at an r12-r134 retrofit kit with two cans of oil-charge
and hose/valve assy , as well as two cans of r134 that
the store sold her for $60.

Question:
 You cant get R-12 anymore? One poster suggested that..

                    Thanks ,
                           Mike D,
                           Certified Barnyard Mechanic

First things first:  what's wrong with the present system?  (Which is
definitely R-12; I don't think you'll see R-134a earlier than a 1993
model and it wasn't mandated until '94 or '5; and it is indicated by
labeling and different sizes of ports.)

If it's intact and functioning properly, don't retrofit anything.  R-12
will actually do a slightly better job of cooling your car.   The sole
reason we don't use it anymore is that it does a job on the ozone layer
too... which is an argument for having a pressurized R-12 system opened
by a shop that can capture the stuff for recycling rather than doing it
yourself, when the day comes.

If the system *isn't* working, three things come to mind:

1. It is better to figure out why it isn't working instead of throwing
parts at the problem.  Putting too much refrigerant into a system is
bad.  (An implication is that you need a gauge set to do the conversion
right.)   And putting any refrigerant into a system that for other
reasons doesn't work is a waste of money... especially if the problem
is a leak!

2. I guess there is a spectrum of opinions on whether and how well
R-134a conversion kits work.  The position that makes sense to me is
that you have to clean out the old system, e.g., with compressed air,
to chase out the old oil from the evaporator.  (I'm told that
improvements in the different type of oil meant for R-134a make it more
compatible with the old mineral oil, but it's still good to reasonably
minimize the amount of the old stuff.)

The receiver/dryer needs to just get tossed, period, when you are
opening the a/c on that old a car.

3.  If it's not working, after figuring out why, there comes a
financial decision on what you want to put into the car, which depends
partly on what is wrong, partly on what kind of shape the car is in and
how much you and your wife like it, and partly on the extent to which
you are able and willing to take this on as a DIY project rather than
hire it out.

See for more information
http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/609/technicians/retrguid.html

Best of luck,
--Joe

There was nothing but R-12 in use in '89. R-134a started appearing in
the 1992-93 time frame, and there were cars still sold new with R-12
until maybe '94.