[BarryJB]

Thanks everyone. I pulled the unit and was looking forward to cleaning the contacts... but alas, it's banjaxed, no bellows operation.

I read all the posts I could find on the size issue (the a/c control that is) and I orderd Pelican's part and will cut away the plastic housing with a Dremel as/if needed.

Re threading the capillary, here's a trick I use any time there's a wire to run - thread a piece of polyethylene tube (Home Depot etc.,) - as small as will easily slide over the existing wire to be replaced, or as big as will route through the grommets, etc., and long enough to stick out both sides of the maze area - cut the end like a hypodermic needle... it's fairly stiff and not stretchy so you can push on it and twist it and grab it with your Porsche-nut collection of curved, long and weird needle-nose pliers and giant hemostats or reinforce it with suitably bent coat-hanger wire until it's all the way through the labyrinthine area - often you can just fasten it to the old wire with harness tape (ultra-thin electrical-style tape) and push/pull it through when you remove the old wire...

I already ran two pieces of 3/8-in tubing last night (one through console and under carpet, other up through the evaporator hole inside the cockpit into the smuggler trunk) so reinstall of capillary will be a no-brainer doddle. And you can always remove this after running the new wire/capillary, if desired (I'll definitely remove the one in the console), or just RTV the end(s) if you prefer to leave it there and you don't want a fluid channel (as I may do with the evaporator end).

Thanks again folks.