My AC system has now been re-gassed. It wasn't that simple though. After closer inspection of the hard lines going to the condenser I realised that there were some points which were kinked or squashed more than I would like. They would still be able to flow gas, but would probably put excessive strain on the AC compressor. Also, diameter changes in the various tubes in the AC system are closely tied to how the whole thing works.
 
I called a mobile AC guy and he came to my place to help me out. This is his website:
http://www.mobilecarairconditioning.com.au/
 
After discussing the options with him, we decided that he would cut out the bad section of hard line and replace it with soft line. After cutting out the bad section of hard line, he had to weld barb fittings onto the hard lines so he could crimp the new soft line onto the barbs.
 
I didn't get a photo of the end result after the soft lines were installed, but here are some photos showing the section that was cut out and replaced. It's easy to see where the line is kinked or squashed:

 

 

 
After fixing the lines (with all relevant O-rings replaced), we confirmed that the system was holding pressure and then we re-gassed the system with no trouble at all. Luckily the replacement AC condenser (used, from a wrecker) seemed OK too.
 
 
On an unrelated note, I also went to Plazmaman to drop off some intercooler piping bits that I had cut/prepared, so they can do some beautiful welds for me. I can't remember if I mentioned this here before, but I'm replacing the piping between the intercooler and throttle body to incorporate 'Plazmaclamps' and eliminate two big 90 degree silicon bends which move too much during prolonged high boost. Plazmaclamps are similar to wiggins clamps but less complicated. They're very expensive, but it's virtually impossible for them to blow apart due to their design and metal construction, and they look great!

Matts_SW20
Do you know why the hard lines were so kinked or bent?

It happened when I hit the wombat a few months ago.
The repair is well and truly complete now.

The perfect selection of gifts for Rob!

I just finished installing some Cusco front camber top mounts.
Adjustable camber top mounts are normally used to achieve more negative camber than stock, especially for cars which see plenty of track time. In my case, that was one of the reasons but not the main reason. I mainly wanted to increase the tiny clearance between the spring perch on my coilovers and the inside of the rims/tyres. Camber tops alone don't help this, but they do when combined with either crash bolts OR an elongated hole where the coilover bolts to the knuckle. My KW V3 coilovers came with an elongated hole as shown below. I maximised the clearance using the elongated hole, then brought the overall camber back to a good spot using the adjustable camber tops.
 

 
The two things on the side of the photo slide into the top of the spherical bearings in the camber tops, and screw down onto the threaded part on top of the coilover rod:

 
Underside:

 
Top view after installation, showing the maximum negative camber that can be achieved with these camber tops (I think it was approximately 12mm closer to the middle of the car compared to the stock top mounts):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thats very tight !  
😉

Looks awesome!

Thanks guys.
I don't have a good camera, so I'll wait for a friend to take some engine bay photos soon :-)