AC compressor replacement

The AC compressor on my 97 GT locked up. Any tips or tricks to removing the old compressor? It looks like the space is very limited because it right next to the frame rail, and I'm not sure how difficult it will be to remove that.

Also, any idea why my compressor locked up? Last summer, I had a large leak on an evaporator tube, so I replaced the evaporator. I evacuated the system using one of those cheapie vacuum pumps that runs on compressed air and filled the system with the correct charge of freon. It worked great for the remainder of the summer/fall. Over the winter, the compressor locked up. Not sure when, but when I tried it this spring, all I got was burning clutch smell.

I didn't add new oil with the charge, because in the past when I charged the system, I used the freon with leak stopper, which is basically just extra oil to make the seals swell. I figured there wouldn't be much oil collected in the evaporater, so I wouldn't loose much when I removed it. If I had replaced the accululator, definately new oil would be required.
I had wondered about moisture too, but no oxygen, no rust. I suppose it's just because Ford sucks at making compressors and my car is 12 years old, with 160k miles.