Oh well....as I continue my quest for setting the record for a heater core swap in the entire universe with respect to time. I've made a few choices and I'm putting up notes to help others. For one there are details over in the thread I mentioned above where I posted in the main forum, (see pics and notes there). For one the vista pro aftermarket heater core I have is a no-go, on two fronts (a) the diameter of the heater core tubes are too small and the heater pipes will not mate with it (b) the angle of one of the tubes on the heater core is not at the correct "angle" and looks to be mission impossible to fix either one. I've not really concentrated on that ....since I had other options to run down.
My path forward. I took the OEM heater core and I'm having the local radiator shop re-core it, once that occurs it should be good and I plan to run that and hopefully never have to screw with this again. One of my clasps on the heater core tubes is corroded to some degree, I ordered two used ones from specter. Waiting on heater core and clasps to come in by mail/ups. I obtained two new o rings from Toyota.
I also ordered an aftermarket heater core from Specter (only place I came across that had one). When I get that I'll test fit it with the heater pipes ...if I still have not started the re-build and I'll post up if I see obvious problems. I don't know what brand of aftermarket heater core, Specter sells, I asked and did not get an answer.
For fun I'm replacing the heater control valve and the misc hoses that feed and connect to it and the ones that run to the engine, along with the thermostat and new coolant.
I may try and buy some things for spare parts later on (used) ...we'll see how motivated I get on that. I did buy a new evap core (denso ) and the expansion valve (denso), which for now I'm not replacing and I'll keep those for spares until or if I need to swap them. AC system is R-12 still and last call before the heater core biz, ac worked fine. I guess I'll find out if my decision is right on not messing with the evap core when I get things back together.
Most of, if not all the heater core stuff will be used, whatever you can find, unless someone decides to support more in the aftermarket world, given the low production runs of the LC's I suspect support will be zero.
So for now I'm waiting on parts as mentioned. I hope I can remember where most of the dash parts go/went, since I did a major tear down and it started some time ago. Technically you don't have to pull the dash down all the way like I did, but I wanted to make sure I did not break anything and I had previously removed some of the parts and stopped in the past.
If I come across any updates or points of info I'll post up here or I'll post over in the thread on the main board. One thing is clear..you do not have to remove the evap core or discharge the freon to get the heater core assembly out. Overall the job is not that bad, just consumes a lot of time, and if you did this a lot, the process would got a lot smoother. Of course I'm not done yet, and I have a stack of parts that came out of the dash , which right now still looks "wiped out".... so I guess we'll see. Don't start this with the idea it will be a short easy fix though...
One other option or maybe the only option to deal with a heater fit issue or lack of o rings, would be to solder the heater core to the heater pipes. My local radiator shop said it would be a non-issue for them to do that....but I'm going to try to stay with the OEM setup.
