Build Won a '74 40 on a coin toss...

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Good day today!

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This guy did an amazing job on his - lot of great metal work, tons of little details. Even painted himself.

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Well decided I couldn't wait until the weekend and fixed the driver side handle. Thing is rock solid! Second time was much easier too! No stripped out screws to drill out.

Waiting on some dimensions but I think I can make a pretty good replacement grip for the handle. We shall see...
 
So bummer I pulled the cruiser out to drive the family to lunch for Mother's Day and as it was warming up in the driveway I noticed a drip - water. I'm like oh that's the AC... Wait no AC in this car. Crap.

We were just leaving so didn't get to do a thorough investigation but it was pretty clear it was a radiator leak. Not shocking that it could fail after all these years.

So I'm debating on whether to get a new one, maybe an upgraded one that will cool more effectively or just see about getting this one repaired. Anyone have any thoughts? Would be nice to hear what people did when they had to make this decision. I see you can get some aftermarket ones for under $350, with some of the aluminum ones being well under $300. Need to do some more research on what is available. Thanks!
 
There are lots of options. I wouldn't do aluminum unless I have a V8. I have CCOT radiator in mine and it works great.

I think the greater consideration is what else do you do while the radiator is out and the coolant is drained. I'll give you my list:
1. Water pump
2. All coolant hoses, including those connected to the water pump. These are normally hard to get at
3. Hose clamps
4. Thermostat + top and bottom thermostat gaskets. Be careful though, the thermostat housing can be fragile and the bolts can snap. It may be easier to just replace the whole thermostat housing with new
5. Heater water valve
6. Replace the grille emblem (I think you've already done this). On mine it's a pain to get at the tabs behind the emblem when the radiator is in place.

Yeah it's a bit of work, but from my experience you either do these jobs one at a time until you're tired of buying coolant, or do it once and get it over with.
 
Racer65 said:
There are lots of options. I wouldn't do aluminum unless I have a V8. I have CCOT radiator in mine and it works great.

I think the greater consideration is what else do you do while the radiator is out and the coolant is drained. I'll give you my list:
1. Water pump
2. All coolant hoses, including those connected to the water pump. These are normally hard to get at
3. Hose clamps
4. Thermostat + top and bottom thermostat gaskets. Be careful though, the thermostat housing can be fragile and the bolts can snap. It may be easier to just replace the whole thermostat housing with new
5. Heater water valve
6. Replace the grille emblem (I think you've already done this). On mine it's a pain to get at the tabs behind the emblem when the radiator is in place.

Yeah it's a bit of work, but from my experience you either do these jobs one at a time until you're tired of buying coolant, or do it once and get it over with.
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Great stuff Racer! I definitely planned on doing a lot of those things, but will integrate all of that into the process. I really want to make it reliable so I can feel safe taking it on a longer trip. Replacing all hoses and belts is definitely part of the plans for that. And desmogging too. I also like the idea of the heater shut off valve.
 
Ouch got a quote to recore my existing radiator to a 4-row and it was $549. Great turnaround time 2 days but after tax that'll be close to $200 more. I guess I'll be going the new aftermarket route since it is substantially less.

I couldn't find anywhere that Toyota makes an OEM one still for my year.
 
ginmtb said:
Ouch got a quote to recore my existing radiator to a 4-row and it was $549. Great turnaround time 2 days but after tax that'll be close to $200 more. I guess I'll be going the new aftermarket route since it is substantially less.

I couldn't find anywhere that Toyota makes an OEM one still for my year.
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Call Beno, he should be able to make a suggestion.
 
Jdc1 said:
Call Beno, he should be able to make a suggestion.
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I've been working with Cruiser Dan since he is closer to home. He has my history of orders which is helpful since I choose not to remember all the stuff I've ordered from him... ;).
 
So ordered a bunch of radiator related stuff so not much going on right now. Bummed I can't drive it but I'm looking forward to having all the cooling system related stuff new - thermostat, hoses, belts, radiator, gaskets, tstat housing, etc.

In the meantime I decided to paint my aluminum valve cover with Alumi Blast. Read some good reviews on valve covers painted with this stuff. And it was looking really good until it started splattering all over the cover. :(. It shipped without the spray valve so I robbed one from a rattle can. Well who knows if it was the right size but I'm guessing by the splatter probably not. Oh well looks decent, certainly better than how it looked when I got the thing. Not like it will stay pristine forever... :) I do like that matte finish.

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I'm sure I could've spent my time doing something more constructive on the Cruiser... Well actually maybe I'll frame this and put it in my office... So yeah it was constructive time. :)
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That's because it is mine! :). I copied mine from a photo and pasted on this old ad. Changed the seating to five from seven and changed the date to the year of my Cruiser.

I used to have photoshop but I don't anymore so was practicing using a new application so this took way longer than it should've.
 
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