FJ60 Funky A/C to Radiator Connection?

[emanning]

Hey guys,

I went to replace the radiator in my '85 FJ60 last night and ran into a small speed bump. I ordered the Champion aluminum radiator from Cruiser Corps (here). When I went to take out the old one, I noticed two connections from the A/C system to the radiator that the new radiator doesn't support. The photos below aren't great, but they're the rigid tubes numbered 40 and 41 in the diagram.

Long story short: What exactly are these connections for? Do I really need to maintain that connection to the radiator? The A/C hasn't been running in this truck for over 10 years now so I'm not worried about losing functionality at this point. But in the future if I wanted to get the A/C working again could I just add a small additional auxiliary radiator in its place? Or maybe I'm way off and this a connection to the heater core?

I really appreciate the help on this one! Trying to get her up and running for the weekend.
Thanks!

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

the thing in the pics is not the radiator, but the ac condenser...if you loosened those connections, your ac will no longer work; until you get it recharged...the radiator and condenser are NOT attached. use the search function to find other radiator swap threads and view the pics. you have to pull the upper radiator support beam, remove the fan and shroud, remove the hoses and mounting bolts and lift the radiator out. you should NOT have to mess with, dismount or remove the ac condenser...HTH

 

[BlackCat]

Yup, that's the condenser. The radiator is directly behind it. And FWIW, you don't have to pull the fan or the shroud, I just put a Mishimoto in my 62 without pulling either of those.

 

[TexasBlue]

I replaced my radiator in my 60 last month. For ease I pulled shroud cleaned/paintend it. Don't really need to pull fan, I'did, it's only 4 nuts.

You will have to unbolt the condenser frpm radiator, no to hard just take your time
On the 60 you will need to remove the grill, to loosen up condenot bolts. Not overly difficult, take pics before and have at it. Remember to burp cooling system after refill.

 

[Skniper]

I've replaced the radiator in my 62 three times and about to do it again. I have never removed the grill or condenser or anything.

The problem is the radiator bolts are trapped behind the condenser and there's no access to keep the bolt head from spinning when removing the nuts inside the engine bay. You can just see the edge of the bolt heads from the front. The trick is to get a large flat head screwdriver and wedge it on/against the bolt head to prevent it from turning, then remove nut inside. Same method when reinstalling.
Works every time for me.

 

[emanning]

Thanks, guys!

I should've taken a closer look (that's what I get for working in the dark I guess).

While we're at it, does anyone have a good method to really flush out old coolant from the entire engine block? It's been running on a band-aid of distilled water for a while and I'd like to flush as much crap out of it while I can (I'm also replacing the thermostat and water pump).

 

[Chester]

Does the temp stay cool enough with just water? <i95° or so?
If yes, you may not want to use a caustic flush.
The thought being an Fe coating somewhat cemented in place that doesn't impede throughput is better than loose Fe+ that might after treatment.
But if it gets smoking hot, then throughput isn't perfect, an aggressive flush would be warranted.
Corrosion inhibiting is what coolant does so well, keeping the precipitates in solution. Water is real good at making sure they don't.

 

[emanning]

Thanks, Chester.

Yeah, it runs plenty cool enough with water, this job was more to fix a slow leak than a cooling issue. I guess I'm just concerned about clogging up a brand new radiator with whatever loose particles might already be in the system. But from what you're saying, it sounds like a simple drain and refill with coolant should be fine.