Builds Lumpy the LandCruiser (1 Viewer)

[Borrego]

Thanks! It's a lot of work, and I'm sure i'm going way overboard on a lot of things, but I want it to be reliable and trouble free. It'll definitely be getting dirty on the trails, but that's a lot different than dirty from years of oil and power steering leaks.

 

[MoaByte]

Thanks! It's a lot of work, and I'm sure i'm going way overboard on a lot of things, but I want it to be reliable and trouble free. It'll definitely be getting dirty on the trails, but that's a lot different than dirty from years of oil and power steering leaks.

Rust protection .

 

[Borrego]

There was definitely a lot of rust protection... Left a nice coat of protection on the asphalt everywhere it went too!

 

[Borrego]

Got the new Carb insulator and got the carb bolted on. The OE hardware had the carb studs, regular washer and lock washer. The top of the studs is tapered, I'm guessing for ease of getting the nut on, but on the driver side of the carb, where the bracket that holds the throttle linkage, there wasn't enough room on the stud to put either washer on and get the nut to thread. So I tightened them up good with some blue Loctite in hopes they don't come loose over time and give me a vacuum leak.

It looks night and day from where it did:
Before:

Current:

Pretty happy with the outcome so far.

 

[Borrego]

Pulled the rear heater hard lines. They are in tact, and there is no leaking, but they are dirty and have surface rust. I'll be grinding them down, and running something through them to clean them all out. Maybe muriatic acid, although they don't look too bad inside, I might just let them sit in vinegar. Any suggestions? I'm going to pull the rear heater out and flush it, and will also pull the heater core out and have it repaired at a radiator shop. When i drove it last (before this rebuild), it was starting to smell like coolant when I had the heater on, and the heater didn't blow very hot. I want absolutely no reason for this thing to overheat or have any heater issues.

 

[Borrego]

Updates... I wire wheeled the rear heater hardlines. Got them down to bare metal, primed and painted them up. They turned out really nice. Also pulled the rear heater, disassembled it and cleaned it all up, along with the floor and grommets. Flushed the rear heater core multiple times in both directions with hot water. A little bit of grime came out, but it was pretty clear.

Back Together:

I'm waiting to install the rear heater and lines because I'm tackling the front heater core as well.

 

[Borrego]

I decided to dig into the dash and replace the front heater core. The heater wouldn't get hot, windshield fogged up with it on, and it smelled like coolant in the cab. I didn't physically see any signs of leaking, but I know this has to be the heater core, and with rebuilding the engine and cooling system, I want no reason for overheating.

Thanks to the great writeups from @Ducks and @jfnall, overall, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I already had my A/C lines removed, so the A/C box was easy to take out. I took all of the vent plumbing out, which was pretty easy, and the heater core had plenty of room to slide out without having to do anything to the main dash brace. All in all, it took about 2-1/2 hours to get it out. Removing the heater hose grommet on the engine side gave the heater core enough room to slide out the direction of the A/C box.
In order of how I did it: (I'm sure there are some small details I left out)
1. Removed instrument cluster
2. Removed stereo
3. Removed fan control bezel (probably didn't need to unplug everything and take it all the way out)
4. Removed glove box cover and inner glove box housing
5. Removed Dash Cap
6. Removed plumbing for vents (including the two center vents, as well as the plastic vents under the heater. (this allows the A/C enough room to drop down and out)
7. Unbolted A/C box and disconnected plugs, A/C will pull out and down.
8. Unbolted heater core box and disconnected plugs.
9. Pulled heater core towards front of dash about an inch (this helped break free the grommet going through the firewall.
10. Pulled the grommet off from the engine side.
11. Pulled the heater core towards the front of the dash until the two pipes are through the fire wall, then slid it towards where the A/C box was and it comes right out.
12. Once I had the box out, one thing that had me puzzled for a few minutes was how to get the heater core out of the box. I unscrewed all of the brackets, but it would not come out, and I didn't want to pull up too much. I thought about disassembling the entire box, but there are a lot of moving parts on one side, and I didn't want to mess with them. I realized it was just stuck in there from the core leaking and getting the foam bound up against the box. It was like it was glued in. I got a screwdriver under the core and was able to pry it up with just a little bit of force. This broke the "glue-like" bond and it it slid right out.

My core didn't seem to be leaking from the o-rings like a lot of people talk about, but there was visual decay and wet on the bottom.
I called a local radiator shop to see what it would cost to re-core, and lets just say it's a lot cheaper to buy the one from Cruiser Corps and have the rad shop pressure test it.
So today, I purchased the replacement and waiting for it to arrive. I'll take it to the rad shop and have them pressure test it, and if all is good, I'll have them braze the pipes onto it to avoid a leaky o-ring connection. I'm having them pressure test it because I've heard of guys just putting them back in, and they leaked, even though they were new, and they had to do this whole job again.

I'll give updates as I receive the new core and get it installed.

Hope this helps someone.

Here are some pictures I took along the way.

Dash Cap Removal:

A/C Box and bolt locations (one on the bottom of the box, out of site)

A/C box unplugged and falling out. Needed to unplug a few things

A/C box is out. (Stereo wires everywhere from PO's head unit install...)

 

[Borrego]

More heater core removal pics:

A/C box on the bench ready to be cleaned:

Cable on the bottom and one of the bolts holding the Heater Core box in place. Need to remove this cable. Also another cable on the driver side of the box with a plug on it. (I don't have a picture of this one).

Top of the Heater Core box. There are 2 bolts on each bottom side (one circled above, one on the driver side) and one nut on top holding the box in.

Removing the firewall grommet from the engine side: (it allowed a lot more wiggle room to get the heater core box out)

And voila! It slid right out! (that's what she said)

 

[Borrego]

That was all yesterday afternoon. I ordered the CCorps Heater Core this morning. I'll have it tested and soldered up when I get it, then it all goes back together. One step closer to getting this cruiser back on the road!

 

[MoaByte]

That was all yesterday afternoon. I ordered the CCorps Heater Core this morning. I'll have it tested and soldered up when I get it, then it all goes back together. One step closer to getting this cruiser back on the road!

These pics should be in the FAQ. To many, what is under the dash is a mystery.

 

[Borrego]

@MoaByte Thanks man. I don't know how to put it in FAQ's. Does a moderator have to do it? I have the dash apart, so I can definitely take more pics if anyone wants. The wiring would be a pain to try to figure out under the dash, but overall, it's pretty basic. Just have to remember where all the screws go, and there really aren't that many. Toyota once again had it pretty well thought out to take apart in pieces. I just bagged the screws with the part I took out and took my time.

 

[MoaByte]

@MoaByte Thanks man. I don't know how to put it in FAQ's. Does a moderator have to do it? I have the dash apart, so I can definitely take more pics if anyone wants. The wiring would be a pain to try to figure out under the dash, but overall, it's pretty basic. Just have to remember where all the screws go, and there really aren't that many. Toyota once again had it pretty well thought out to take apart in pieces. I just bagged the screws with the part I took out and took my time.

I don't know, but someone does.

I'm about to tear into mine, but the AC and heater are still fine for now. The PO had some creative wiring on the stereo and there are mystery wires under the steering column. I'm hoping to tidy it up and add aux lighting and a dash cap.

 

[georgebj60]

Please keep us posted on the CC heater core. My recollection from when I went through this was that they list the core as available, but it wasn't. It seems no one had it, and I had to make one good core out of the 2 used ones I had.

 

[georgebj60]

Also, I understand why some feel that soldering the tubes on permanently is more secure, but I feel like this is more susceptible to cracking. I know that when I was installing my heater lines I had to wrestle them on a bit, and the copper tubes were flexing. But when I finally started the truck after the engine swap, no leaks. I think the key is that the O-rings to use are not standard rubber ones. Apparently the correct ones from Toyota that are still available are meant for the high heat application of the heater core. I can probably dig up the part number of the O-ring I used if anyone is interested.
Either way, great work. I'll follow along...

 

[Borrego]

Please keep us posted on the CC heater core. My recollection from when I went through this was that they list the core as available, but it wasn't. It seems no one had it, and I had to make one good core out of the 2 used ones I had

Luckily I got a UPS confirmation email last night that the core shipped and is expected to deliver on Friday.

Good note on soldering vs o-ring. I mean, the o-ring did hold for 34 years... I'm leaning towards soldering based on what a lot of people on mud have said about the o-ring not seating properly, but in your case it worked. I thought I had a path forward, but maybe I'll have to give it a little more thought now. I would think the clamp that holds the pipes to the heater box would hold them secure enough when putting the hoses on?

Did you buy new clips for the o-rings as well?

 

[Ducks]

The o-ring/clips started leaking for me fairly quickly (and I'm fairly certain I got new OEM clips & o-rings when I did it, but it was 12 years ago). So, I didn't decide to solder it until after it was confirmed that they wouldn't work. My preference would be to keep the o-ring/clip but that said, the soldering has held just fine for over 12 years and lots of bumping around.

 

[georgebj60]

...I thought I had a path forward, but maybe I'll have to give it a little more thought now.

Ignore what I said. Do what you were going to do. I only mentioned it because I feel like sometimes people try to re-engineer things to solve a problem that isn't there. I feel like Toyota did it that way for a reason, and surely it wasn't a cost-cutting exercise as making the separate tubes, with clips and rings could not have been less expensive than a single unit with tubes attached.

But if folks are having leak issues when replacing the cores then that's a good argument for changing what was done from the factory. So carry-on.

And great news that there is finally an option for a replacement core. There wasn't when I re-did my core, and I'm fortunate that the shop I used didn't charge me an arm-and-a-leg to make a good core. But they could have. I didn't have a choice.

 

[Borrego]

You make a good point, but I'm going to stick with my original plan. I've read enough threads that all lead me to believe that soldering it is the full proof way to go.
I've sweated a few copper pipes around the house, but I think I'll have the local radiator shop perform this and do a pressure test as well just to make sure it's all good, and I'll be extra careful when installing and hooking up the hoses.

 

[Borrego]

Got the heater box and pipes all cleaned up. Just waiting on the core to arrive tomorrow. I'm like the crab in the kids show Moana, I like things Shiny! (Even if I'll never see them again).

Has anyone replaced the foam in and around the heater box? It is pretty brittle, what did you use in the flaps? I've left mine so far, but it's seen better days. would be nice to replace it while I have it all out.

 

[Borrego]

I got the heater core from Cruiser Corps last Friday as expected. It looked used. It had the blueish/green coolant crusty stuff inside of it. Not sure if they are used/recored, or what the story is. Regardless, it looked 100x better than the one I took out. I took it to the local radiator shop and they soldered the tubes on and pressure tested it and said it was good to go with no leaks. I just need to install some foam around it, as the CCorps core didn't come with any. Hopefully I can get it installed and the dash back together this weekend.

(I doubt the Cruiser Corps heater cores are recored, because my local radiator shop wanted around $300 to recore mine, and I've heard that price for others as well, and CCorps is selling them for only $130... Anyone know?)