bowtierebel

Hey guys. I wanted to give an update. First, the cooling problem. I took the original radiator to a rad shop that the owner has been there for 40+ years. I had him back flush, clean and leak test and flow test the rad. He said that it didn't seem too dirty by looking at what came out of it so I thought that I had just wasted $25, but then I realized that it was worth that small amount of money to eliminate the rad from the equation. When I got home I reinstalled the rad and checked for visual flow looking down into the cap throat. Well guess what, it was flowing just fine! This showed me that even though the rad APPEARS ok by flooding water though it with a water hose and it spilling out of the bottom seemingly as fast as the water goes in, that is not a proper way to test it. In my case it was very deceiving. If anyone is having the same problems that I was having then I suggest a new rad or as I did having your original Toyota rad cleaned by a reputable rad shop. I also agree with the other's suggestions that you do as I did and install a OEM tstat and OEM rad cap. The rad shop guy also reinforced the upper rad hose connection that had way too much flex in it. By him doing this I'm sure he prevented me from having a major break down later.
Now as far as the gauges reading correctly... I installed the SR5 cluster and the temp gauge began to work. I said earlier that the fuel gauge ohmed way too high. I also cleaned and checked the fuel sending unit as best I could, but it was too far gone. I replaced the fuel sending unit with an OEM unit from the dealer. My cost was about $170.00. That's a lot, but I have the bed off now and I figured I'd rather just do that than find a used one, which by the way isn't easy, because after the bed is back on it will be a true PITA. Now the fuel gauge works too.
Now I'm on to my fake Weber carb issues. Thanks guys.