kramttocs

Thanks for documenting it for others View issues aside, it looks really good.

And does your radiator manufacturer state to change your coolant at a regular interval? If not then they are not being honest with you. Antifreeze is only lasts so long before the inhibitors start to stop protecting your system from corrosion and you also start losing freeze/boil protection as well. Its why with big tractor trucks they sell additive packets you can dump in your cooling system to revitalize the protection of the coolant as it would be way too expensive to do a complete coolant change on those systems. I personally dont go by what the radiator manufacturer states, I had my radiator rebuilt by a local radiator shop they sent the core out to have a new core made and you know what they told me to run? They told me to run a 0 pound radiator cap that it will void the warranty if I run a pressure cap on the radiator. Why would it void the warranty? the pressure cap is one half of the equation when it comes to boil over protection. Raising the pressure raises the boil point of the system then the antifreeze raises it even more so. I bought a concourse reproduction radiator cap for my Fairlane and put it on the radiator and that was some 6 years ago and I still have no issues. These so called "recommendations" are only given to cover their rear so they can say well you voided the warranty we cant honor it. Me personally I will be running global. I am going to flush what I can of the conventional green out but will use global which will mix with no problems. With how I change my coolant every 5 years I should have any remnants of conventional green coolant out of the system fairly quickly. Also there is nothing wrong with the coolant you are running. I just personally wouldnt run conventional green if you add aluminum heads, intake, and a radiator. You can see how conventional green coolant eats up the aluminum timing cover where the coolant passes through. I am glad this discussion came up. Will be looking at gold in the near future

It really is. The only beds like that I've seen are on vans that look a lot like this. Centurion experiment?

Precisely! I stuck a scrap piece of hose on the one I installed and it has a nice tight fit. Seeing the hose drop straight into the five gallon bucket and knowing you won't have coolant run down your arm while loosening the drain stop anymore or spray all over everything until you get the funnel just right...it's the small things in life Yes on the size

So far. Seems well made and the wings are solidly attached without fear of them spinning. I used Permatex Seal and Lock on it so will give it a few days before filling. It didn't thread in very far and with it being directional, there's always the fear it will just land wrong but it worked out well in my case. After dealing with the original last night which was a real pain trying to get the last drop out without letting it just dribble into the core support, I am more than happy with the prospect of this. Now just hoping no leaks.

I hadn't heard of them but just looked them over briefly. So you are putting a working original style radio in there but can interrupt that output with output from your phone? I figure you already checked out retrosound? I'd check with Nick and George like Gary mentioned to see if they've had any luck.

That black vertical strip of metal that has the chrome square the vent window latch slides over to hold close. That is wider in later years so the felt is shorter and if put on an 80-86 truck you'll have the gap like that. Look for 80-86 and you'll be good.

Welcome aboard! 35 yrs of ownership - impressive

I ordered the cap with anode today but without time passing, won't be much to report on regarding it. While not directly related to the topic, I would also mention that those with aluminum radiators (or even without) might want to consider a 90 degree petcock. I installed the one I bought from Amazon this evening and Cory found one on cjponyparts. Since it's more important to change the coolant regularly with aluminum components, might as well make it easy on you.

Since I am in the process of doing a few flushes I figured it was a good time to re-research some of this Most of what I found was on forums but a lot of the Mustang and Corvette owners with aluminum radiators are using and recommending the green. Take it for what it's worth. Dewitt had this to say: The key to maximizing the life of an aluminum radiator is not so much the coolant brand as it is the water type. All coolants sold today will protect the aluminum radiators adequately however distilled water must be part of the package. I ordered the cap with anode today but without time passing, won't be much to report on regarding it.

Just to clarify but Gary is referring to the inside ones that go on the plastic door panel. See detail here

Hi, The later models have a wider divider between the vent and the main windows. There shouldn't be a gap - they should butt against the channel weatherstrip. Tell us some about your truck and yourself (if so inclined)

I have this project on my to-do list and even have everything here to do it. It looks like a huge task I think just because of the sheer amount of components and disassembly and assembly required. I've looked at both AC and Non-AC cabs, and they are not much different. I can turn my Non-AC cab into an AC cab in about 5 minutes with a zip-cut disk on the grinder. The biggest thing is that the large 3rd hole (#3) needs to be cut (for recirculation) that isn't present in the Non-AC cab. Then the hole has to be trimmed to fit the heater core tubes through (#2)...currently that is where the heat cable passes through. Other then that, the main hole on the left needs to be trimmed a bit on the bottom. The fresh air hole that is behind the fender is the same on both AC and Non-AC cabs. I will probably start this before spring. I am now waiting for my new gasket set to arrive from Detroit Muscle Tech. It was a bit of a hassle for me to get it shipped into Canada...delivery has turned into a couple months. Hoping it arrives in February. Once I have the new gasket set, I plan to mount the hvac box so I can trace out the recirc hole in the cab...that way I don't mess it up...lol. Thanks for that photo Cory. I know it's not the cleanest but if not needing to add A/C I'd really take a look at using the flex ductwork. With the dealer a/c the cluster bezel vents each have an oval adapter for the hose. The passenger side vents go into a small duct that has an opening in the back for the evaporator. You wouldn't be able to do vents only so a trade off in function vs effort.

No harm in politely making your case and asking him. Since he didn't do the install originally I wouldn't plan on it happening though. Ultimately I'd say all you are guaranteed is the correct flex plate. Sorry - never fun to have to dive back in right after it's buttoned up.

Looks like Champion doesn't recommend dexcool. https://shop.championcooling.com/articles/What-Coolant-Color-Do-I-Use We get asked quite often what coolant we recommend for our radiators, and while we don't necessarily recommend one brand over another, we do have a type of coolant that we discourage using. We have found that the 'red' coolants, such as Dex-Cool and Toyota's Long-Life coolant, can clog our radiators, as well as promote leaks. We recommend the traditional 'green/yellow' coolant from most name-brand manufacturers, and to mix that coolant with distilled water at a 50/50 ratio.

I've got one of these in my cart for my next order. That way it doesn't plug up your drain.

Eddie - so you bolted the a/c main plenum into your truck? Did you have to make the firewall modifications to do that? I know you said trim but I was thinking from other projects that it was more involved.

Take a look here: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/hvac-systems.html Especially at the Integral A/C tab and the Pictures sub-tab. You'll see the main plenum has a square hole facing the dash that the ducts hook up to. What about using some round flex ductwork like the dealer a/c used tied somewhere into your current heat-only plenum? Now if you could find a comfort vent system...

Thanks again all! Going to measure the holes in the clamps for a better idea of the size and get some of these ordered.

With one to spare :) https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Bearing-Bearings-Wrapped-Bushings/dp/B07JLPJL9D/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=6mm+to+8mm+sleeve+bushing&qid=1611932026&sr=8-5

Posting at the same time with similar thoughts. Yours would be easier. So if enlarging to 8mm you could have a reducer that is 8mm OD and 6mm ID. Using a 6mm bolt to line it all up.

Thanks all. Cory, I follow what you are saying. It wouldn't take much to eyeball-center the clamp hole in the guide holes and that would be close enough. Or embellishing a bit: Outline the clamp's ends in one piece of plate Route out a shallow trough matching the outline so the clamp sits in there Drill a hole through the existing clamp hole (~6mm) into both plates (grooved and not) Remove clamp, enlarge hole in both plates to desired side Reinsert clamp, enlarge hole in clamp

Yes! Purposefully left those off the 86 as well. I swear those things can locate any piece of loose clothing you have on and attempt to rapidly remove it from your person.

Has anyone come across any of these? The 6mm or 1/4 works in a lot of places on our trucks. For those locations with 8mm bolts I just enlarged the hole but that's a bit of a pain to do without either taking forever, losing skin, or twisting the clamp into modern art. I've found some zinc-plated but would like stainless. Would also settle for any tricks to enlarging the 6mm hole. Thanks

Tangent but since we are talking about wiring - I tore my dash harness down into each circuit and measured the wires to the nearest inch rounding up. May not have much use to it but interesting info to have. I wasn't able to get all circuits due to cutting pieces out for others or myself but quite a few were unmolested. I penciled them all in my evtm so at some point will find a way to get them to Gary. Mildly interesting: found an unlisted T/O connector and the Exterior Lamp circuit is drawn incorrectly in the EVTM (86).