The "Radiator Leak" Build

[cruiserjunktion]

Dang that is NICE....


You are sick!

 

[ProwlerDriver]

Man, my ultimate dream would be to get the whole underside linexed. Never would have to worry about rust. Unfortunately my garage does not have the capacity to do a body off resto, and the linex place around here doesnt have a lift or rottisseri. The wheel wells will have to do for now.

Oh yeah UPS came today--

New Lecarra leather wrapped wheel with hub. Need to get rid of that Lecarra sticker on the horn button.
Does anyone remember or have the link for the cruiser shop that sells the TEQ little plaque/sticker?

 

[AdventureToolCompany]

This is a work of art!

I can relate to approaching a "small fix" and it turns into a complete overhaul!

BTW- Where did you get the brass cap to close off the rear heater line from the rear of the head?

Thanks!

BritKLR

Just as the title says, this thing started with a radiator leak. A minor leak at that. Went down to performance radiator and bought a new one. Went to put it on and by the end of the day my cruiser looked like this:

I decided I didnt like not knowing what was going on under the hood, Power steering fluid was everywhere and im obsessive compulsive/anal retentive. This led to a desmog, 5 bottles of simple green, the last 6 months of my disposable income, and a lot of beer (IPA). I got inspiration from JDhall3's build.

I had never done anything like this before. But everything looked simple enough to figure out, especially when i got all the smog crap removed. I had my FSMs and Mud so i went to town.
So this is what ive done:

-New OEM: vcv, any and every gasket, power steering pump, heater valve and every single heater hose, Fan Clutch.

-Ceramic coated (Jet Hot) Valve Cover, firewall heat shield, intake manifold, all coolant hard lines, and the thermostat cover.

-Powder Coated every damn little bracket/pulley in the engine bay.

-Brand new bolts anywhere i could get to them (All OEM on the block)

-Degreased the whole damn engine and painted it. Low gloss up top, High Gloss on oil pan.

-Desmog with a weber 38 (w/ MAF one piece manifold adapter), fluid heat riser, JimC Dizzy Recurve, and some downey ceramic coated headers. (on the way)

-All wire split loom was replaced with high heat split loom

-New Steering Shaft U Joints (both)

-Zero Rust w/ crystal coat the whole front frame.

-Stainless Fuel lines, New Fuel Filter (OEM)

-Thermotec heat shield on powersteering hoses- they are close to the headers.

-Rear Heater Delete

- Thermotec adhesive backed heat shield on ALL exhaust shields

This has taken me close to 4 months to do. Between balancing work (im a navy pilot so its decently hectic), the wife (who cant wait for this to be over), and this rebuild Ive been busy. I just cant wait to stop driving the damn honda and get this baby back on the road. I will keep the pics coming, and I will have plenty of questions for you guys as well

 

[AdventureToolCompany]

.....And the stainless steel fuel lines?

Thx

BritKLR

 

[ProwlerDriver]

.....And the stainless steel fuel lines?

Thx

BritKLR

Pipe cap for rear heater delete is a 3/8" npt pipe cap from the hardware store.
I ordered the stainless fuel lines from summit racing. they are spectre brand 5/16". Not too expensive. I shortened them considerably from the stock length- I have no idea why they were that long originally.

 

[ElliottB]

I KNOW you've got some good updates to share.

Let's see them!

 

[ProwlerDriver]

I KNOW you've got some good updates to share.

Let's see them!

I knew you would keep me honest! Im trying to keep up with your progress! Ive started getting it back together and am cleaning up the wiring harness as we speak. Im trying to hide and route the wiring/hoses as clean as possible.
The intake manifold should be in on thursday then i will be mounting my remflex, headers, carb, and intake then. I also got an awesome billet air filter from a toyota performance company- I cant wait to post pics with it all up.
Pics later this week

 

[ProwlerDriver]

Alright Got the left freshly painted and linexd fender on. Painted the igniter. plasti-coated the coil bracket and got a new coil. working on the wiring harness now.

Freshly painted radiator core support all mounted with lights and horns

Ceramic coated intake manifold, fluid heat riser and man a fre one piece carb spacer all mounted with my downey headers and remflex gasket. Billet KN air cleaner on top-- That thing was an awesome find.
It looks badass next to all the shiny stuff.

have to take the carb back off as i stripped one of the mounting bolts apparently. Carb mounting bolts are a serious pain in the ass to get too. Steering column will get mounted and hopefully a drivers side fender tommorrow. Only if my wife leaves me alone...

 

[raydouble]

It's so clean.......just beautiful work.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Who paints their coil

By far the cleanest 2F I have ever seen. Keep it up

 

[ProwlerDriver]

stripped bolts will be the death of me. I almost posted the whole damn truck on craigslist after the thermostat housing decided it will not allow me to tighten down a bolt even after retapping it. one of those days. Nothing a good beer couldnt fix. so tomorrow off to napa for a helicoil kit. there is no way in hell im waiting for another housing and then waiting to have it coated to match everything else.

other than that i overcame the impossible and got all the hoses ran as cleanly as humanly possible. Tried to keep the underhood clutter to a minimum.

Ill post some more pics after my k&n valve cover filter shows up and is mounted.

 

[Spike Strip]

FWIW -- I went through the same thing, but just bought a good used housing. Very common to strip those damn things.

 

[ElliottB]

Is there a way of running an open filter (like the one you've got on that Weber) on a 2F carb?

Also, what are you doing for the BVSV lines that come off of that thermostat housing? Looks like you plugged up both of them.

 

[klinetime574]

I had a bolt head snap off and the other half was sticking out the bottom of the thermostat housing I filed down a flat spot on both sides grabbed that thing with vise grips and let er rip haha. Bought 4 new bolts at Autozone and all was gravy.

Don't give up man. Keep pushing.

And where in the world did you get that awesome filter?

 

[ProwlerDriver]

Alright she is running!!!!
It wouldnt start for awhile and found out the i mounted the dizzy 180 off 3 times in a row. awesome. Just switched up the spark plugs 180 off and fired up first try!
Took a stroll around the neighborhood with no hood and open headers. Everybody came outside. Man, after 7 months that was the best feeling.

So i got all the wires and hoses ran, I spent almost 10 hours doing all this to get it as clean, invisible as possible. Almost nothing is on the fenders. Here are some pics:

Used electrical wire conduit things for fuel line routing:

Filled all unused bolt holes with flush mount stainless bolts

Teq logo on rad cap- just little s***

Hood is at the linex shop (im addicted) the underside where the hood pad would go is getting coated. should keep some heat and noise down (and look fairly badass). Hopefully it will be done soon so i can get it to the exhaust shop, ill keep you all posted!

 

[ProwlerDriver]

Just as a side note- if this initial experience with the weber is what i can come to expect for the life of it, i have no idea what everybodys issue is. This thing is extremely simple, very easy to tune correctly and minimal moving parts. Im very, very glad lehiguy and klinetime pointed me in that direction. Desmogging is amazing. I got rid of so much crap. So much. I now know where everything is and what it does under my hood, and can figure out when something is wrong, what it is-- that to me is priceless. Same thing with the weber, the stock carb was a mystery to me, as Im sure it is to many (hence the reason only 2 people on here can rebuild them). Im positive i could rebuild this carb (weber) and troubleshoot any issues that might arise. Again, that, to me, is priceless.

 

[ProwlerDriver]

Also, what are you doing for the BVSV lines that come off of that thermostat housing? Looks like you plugged up both of them.

There isnt a piece of smog equipment left on my truck. No need for the bvsv lines.

And where in the world did you get that awesome filter?

LC engineering. They sell performance toyota parts, but this is pretty much the only thing that is applicable to the cruiser. Im very lucky i stumbled on it, it is extremely nice. Beat the cheap k+n chrome circle, the black stock millenium falcon with a million vacuum ports i dont need, and the undersized weber filter.

 

[Spike Strip]

Man, desmogged like that -- It is a thing of minimalist beauty. Truly.

 

[ElliottB]

Wow! Great work man! I'm jealous that mine won't look that good. haha.

 

[klinetime574]

Its so cleannnnn. I want.

You sure went all out on this thing. That air cleaner is expensive! Good Job!

Open headers are awesome. Tractor powa