Finally got around to the 97's parts pile today. Thanks to Cdan for the spectacular prices on all this, BTW. Couple tips by item:
New brass (93/94 spec) radiator - Thanks for other's tips on those upper bolts. Indeed was able to loosen/flex the A/C condensor and get them without removing headlamps, latch, crossmember - literally pulled the radiator in about 90 minutes. On install of the new one, wrestled with the lower left corner of the shroud. Trick is to use a screwdriver to pry the shroud into position as the tranny cooler hoses are pressing hard against it. Also, the fan/shroud come out together easily (heard someone struggling with this recently).
New OEM hoses. Someone mentioned using "personal lube" on theirs recently. Holy crap, really works better than anything.
New OEM belts. This one's tighter getting them on the pulleys than any 80 I've had. Found it helped to actually loosen the adjusters until the adjuster bolt came off. Once the belt's on the pulleys, there's plenty of slack to re-engage the adjuster bolts and then start cranking them tight. Previously, I've used the engine to bump them on, but this can be a bit dangerous.
New OEM A/C belt tensioner pulley. Wow - cheap and replaced the chattering one that was so annoying on startup. Took about 3 mins.
PHH. Holy Moly! I've done 3 of these and this one was truly a pain compared to the others. The spring clip on the block end was quite literally installed in the worst possible position. They're all pointed to the rear of the vehicle and take some finagling to get channel locks on the ears, but on this one the upper ear was tight up against the block. Luck of the draw, I guess. Anyhow, I had to cut half the hose off, unbolt the upper bolt and flex the heater pipe away. This gave me enough room to use the largest flat screwdriver I had to pry that ear down away from the metal lip above it, then get pliers on the lower ear and slowly rotate the clip clockwise until I could get pliers on both ears. That took me 90 freaking minutes of trying everything else I've done before. Truly amazing, and I am reminded of someone here that actually blew theirs and changed it on the side of the road. Dunno who it was, but I bow to you. I used some very high grade silicone hose like I have on the 93 - absolute pleasure to work with as it's very flexy. Replaced the spring clip against the block, and used a fancy lined constant tension $4.50 clamp on the other end. Picture forthcoming.
Miscellaneous:
-I've never backflushed the heater cores as some have, but did this time. Absolutely astounded how much hotter the heater puts out and will do this every time from now on.
-From the you-never-know-what-you'll-find department. Pulled the thermostat out and it was the cheesiest aftermarket thing I've ever seen. Dinky wax cylinder, no rubber seal, no rattle valve for air/coolant purge, gasket had deteriorated so badly chunks were missing, and of course the "USA" maker didn't even have the balls to put their name on it. Had to use a toothpick/toothbrush to get all the crud out of the gasket sealing area before putting in the new OEM one. The original hoses were oozing Toyota Red and had serious amounts of pinky crusties under their sealing surfaces.
-A slight fan pulley wobble I noticed this morning disappeared when it was all buttoned up. PO must not have gotten the pulley properly seated before applying belt tension is all I can figure (didn't know that could be done). I was going to call Cdan in the morning for a new one.
-It's amazing how much quieter these engines are with new belts. I'd forgotten this. Purrs at idle and feels smoother from the driver's seat. This I attribute to the vibrations from the loose/old belts going away.
-Had to figure a way of draining the flush/water out on the drive and getting the truck into the garage for work without starting it. My drive slopes. Striking out on ramps, I made a Rube Goldberg ramp with timbers and got my wife to steer and brake while I gave a good shove after the drain was done. Didn't want to deal with water all over the floor while doing all this. Worked perfect and my neighbor got a kick out of it.
New brass (93/94 spec) radiator - Thanks for other's tips on those upper bolts. Indeed was able to loosen/flex the A/C condensor and get them without removing headlamps, latch, crossmember - literally pulled the radiator in about 90 minutes. On install of the new one, wrestled with the lower left corner of the shroud. Trick is to use a screwdriver to pry the shroud into position as the tranny cooler hoses are pressing hard against it. Also, the fan/shroud come out together easily (heard someone struggling with this recently).
New OEM hoses. Someone mentioned using "personal lube" on theirs recently. Holy crap, really works better than anything.
New OEM belts. This one's tighter getting them on the pulleys than any 80 I've had. Found it helped to actually loosen the adjusters until the adjuster bolt came off. Once the belt's on the pulleys, there's plenty of slack to re-engage the adjuster bolts and then start cranking them tight. Previously, I've used the engine to bump them on, but this can be a bit dangerous.
New OEM A/C belt tensioner pulley. Wow - cheap and replaced the chattering one that was so annoying on startup. Took about 3 mins.
PHH. Holy Moly! I've done 3 of these and this one was truly a pain compared to the others. The spring clip on the block end was quite literally installed in the worst possible position. They're all pointed to the rear of the vehicle and take some finagling to get channel locks on the ears, but on this one the upper ear was tight up against the block. Luck of the draw, I guess. Anyhow, I had to cut half the hose off, unbolt the upper bolt and flex the heater pipe away. This gave me enough room to use the largest flat screwdriver I had to pry that ear down away from the metal lip above it, then get pliers on the lower ear and slowly rotate the clip clockwise until I could get pliers on both ears. That took me 90 freaking minutes of trying everything else I've done before. Truly amazing, and I am reminded of someone here that actually blew theirs and changed it on the side of the road. Dunno who it was, but I bow to you. I used some very high grade silicone hose like I have on the 93 - absolute pleasure to work with as it's very flexy. Replaced the spring clip against the block, and used a fancy lined constant tension $4.50 clamp on the other end. Picture forthcoming.
Miscellaneous:
-I've never backflushed the heater cores as some have, but did this time. Absolutely astounded how much hotter the heater puts out and will do this every time from now on.
-From the you-never-know-what-you'll-find department. Pulled the thermostat out and it was the cheesiest aftermarket thing I've ever seen. Dinky wax cylinder, no rubber seal, no rattle valve for air/coolant purge, gasket had deteriorated so badly chunks were missing, and of course the "USA" maker didn't even have the balls to put their name on it. Had to use a toothpick/toothbrush to get all the crud out of the gasket sealing area before putting in the new OEM one. The original hoses were oozing Toyota Red and had serious amounts of pinky crusties under their sealing surfaces.
-A slight fan pulley wobble I noticed this morning disappeared when it was all buttoned up. PO must not have gotten the pulley properly seated before applying belt tension is all I can figure (didn't know that could be done). I was going to call Cdan in the morning for a new one.
-It's amazing how much quieter these engines are with new belts. I'd forgotten this. Purrs at idle and feels smoother from the driver's seat. This I attribute to the vibrations from the loose/old belts going away.
-Had to figure a way of draining the flush/water out on the drive and getting the truck into the garage for work without starting it. My drive slopes. Striking out on ramps, I made a Rube Goldberg ramp with timbers and got my wife to steer and brake while I gave a good shove after the drain was done. Didn't want to deal with water all over the floor while doing all this. Worked perfect and my neighbor got a kick out of it.
You should be good to go for a while now - I replaced the intake tube, PCV and both hoses while I was at it ... but the Texas heat is hard on hoses. 
