As a follow-up on this thread, after months of the dreaded AC compressor rattle, I went ahead and bought the 'Clutch Set' from Compressor Express at a cost of £149 including delivery (plus additional import Duty/VAT/handling admin costs of £48 as we are no longer in the EU).
This retains use of the core OEM compressor parts (the business end) and replaces the following (see pictures below of the replacement parts):
- Clutch
- Coil
- Pulley and bearing
Autofficina were very excited about experimenting with this due to the savings they could pass onto customers over replacing the whole compressor with a very, very expensive OEM one. Well it was a complete success. The one thing we found though, was that the spindle shaft length on the clutch was a few millimetres too short. However, we were able to re-use the original one, no problem.
I asked Autofficina to replace the gas (just in case) so the whole compressor came out. However, for DIY'ers you may (or may not) be able to replace the coil and pulley/bearing in-situ - hopefully others will be along to advise on whether there is enough clearance space for this.
The aircon runs really well and has stood up well in the searing heat we've been enjoying recently. The service from Compressor Express, as
@Felonious Crud experienced, was second to none. As usual, Autofficina did a cracking install job.
The part number and details are: