1996 G20 ac compressor noise

[vvaffle]

It's been making a whining noise for a while now, but it got much worse last week. Something between grinding and whining. It does it whether the AC is on or off and my AC has not worked for at least a year. A mechanic said that the bearings on the ac compressor are bad. This makes sense to me based on where the noise is coming from. He also said that it could seize completely and then snap the belt that drives it. Since this belt also drives the alternator, I was wondering if there is a way to circumvent the AC compressor, and just run a different length belt from the alternator to the main pulley.

Also, soon after the noise started my car began having trouble starting. It seems to crank fast enough, just won't turn over. Regarding this, the mechanic said its most likely a bad distributor. Not sure what RPM it's cranking to since my tachometer is broken. Any ideas if these could be related?

[Infinitiguy19]

Why not replace compressor clutch or compressor altogether?

No start issue can't be related to compressor noise.