Yesterday I was doing a little research on short water pumps. I guess Ford discontinued producing alot of older parts to cut costs, so the aftermarket is about the only option. After doing some searching, I ended up on a ford T-Bucket forum, and a guy had a list of everything needed to do a short waterpump swap including parts numbers. So I started googling parts #'s and I ended up on Summit Racings site. I found the short water pump and it ran about $139. I was thinking that didn't sound too bad, but then I need to run a different water pump pulley ($69.95) and a different crank pulley ($79.95) and a new Harmonic Balancer ($279.95!!!!) So I was looking at a minimum of $570 to swap to a short water pump just to gain 1-1/2" of clearance I needed to run my toyota V6 radiator. SO, I did what I had been trying to avoid doing...I cut the core suport, LOL.


^^^ I trimmed the lip that protrudes out approx 3/4 to 1" into the engine compartment that the radiator bolts to, I did this on both sides, I also drilled out the spot welds so I could remove the peice without cutting to deep into the rest of the core support. (i used a grinder for most the cutting, and a dremmel with a metal cutoff wheel for the final cuts so i didn't cut too deep)


^^^ I had to trim a little off right in front of the radiator, behind where the hood prop rod lays down


^^^ This is what I ended up removing. I tried to remove the least amount of material possible to keep the core support ridgid, and also as stock in apearance as possible. I will probably go back and add some flat bar stock to the area behind the hood prop rod in front of the radiator to strengthen it.


^^^ I gained about an 1" of clearance between the water pump and the radiator (I had no clearance before)




^^^ I made a couple new upper radiator mounts, I need to finish the bottom ones today.

 

I had to redo the top radiator brackets today, the V6 radiator cap is on the drivers side of the radiator compared to the 4 cylinder cap being in the center, so when I would shut the hood the radiator cap would barely hit on the hood brace. So I ended up cutting the brackets off and lowering them about an inch, dropping the radiator, It's about flush with the bottom of my front spring hanger. I also finished the bottom radiator brackets. It seems like it always takes alot longer than it should, lol, I think I spent more time starring at the core support the last 2 days then actually building anything! Here is a few pics of how it turned out.







^^^this is how it turned out all finished and painted... I think I'm going to go back and tack weld the nuts to the radiator on the upper mounts so I won't be struggling to get the bolts in once the grill is in place.

 

wow nice job on making it fit. much cheaper than buying a short waterpump

 

It always take longer then what is orgianlly thought, but looks like it worked out well in the end. Great job.

 

Thanks ToyoTech yeah I don't have that kind of money, I didn't want to have to cut it, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I think I'm going to make a angle iron peice that's removable to go in front of the radiator,give it a little more strength and give something for the wire loom to attatch to that runs across there... if I ever have to replace the radiator, I'm going to use your idea and find one out of an automatic!

 

Thanks Terry, yeah I was working on the exhaust yesterday, and i was making zero progress, I was getting so frustrated that I had to take a break and move on to the radiator, LOL, then it seemed like that was taking forever!

 

Ed, looks factory, nice job

 

Thanks for the compliment Bill. It's getting close, I still need a gas tank, I'm waiting on the bearings I ordered from NWOR, and bunch of little stuff, hopefully It'll be ready to fire up by next weekend!

 

What did u decide on exhaust

 

Hey racerflea. I need to get back to work on the exhaust. I kind of got burned out quickly on it since I wasn't making any progress, other than cutting it up into peices, lol. I guess first off I need to get some gaskets for the collectors, since there is way to much play in there to mock it up into place, and I'll go from there, just going to make it fit, might add a "H" pipe, it's not going to be pretty, lol.

 

Beauty is a option, function is a must!

 

LOL, yeah at this point I just want to drive it, that might mean open exhaust...who needs mufflers! LOL.

 

This morning I'm going to meet a guy to buy a 87' 4Runner gas tank for $75. I had found another one for $50 if I pulled it, but it was further away, by the time I figured in the gas and my time to remove it, I decided to just pay the extra $25 and be done with it, lol. I had wanted to go with a F-150 tank, but after doing some research, and seeing that I would have to fabricate a new filler tube and mounts, I just decided to go with the 4Runner tank... I'm getting closer to getting this rig to be drivable, and am getting to the point where if I don't have to modify something in order to get it to work, I'm going to take the easy way out, lol! I can always get a F-150 tank later down the road.

Today i'm going to also try to get my electric fans mounted. I am going to try to reuse the dual 10" fans that the PO was running on the 85' pickup.




^^^ I'm going to attempt to trim and remove about a 1/4" of material on the inside of the fan housing so it's alittle thinner. Then I will make my own thin metal frame to attach to the fans and in turn mount that to the radiator. I also need to do some research on how to make the fans come on with the thermostat, the PO had them wired to a toggle switch, which I might do temporarily, but I like the idea of them coming on when it reaches a set temperature.

 

I think u could pull one off a mustang of f150 that had a 302 with factory electric fans

 

Yeah I was kind of thinking along those same lines too, but after messing around with the two 10" fans today I think I can mount them without trimming the housing by seperating the fans (they are just bolted together) and making some new mounts. I'll probably get that finished tomorrow.

I also got my new gas tank (out of a 87' 4runner). It's in pretty good shape, no rust, inside or out, just cleaned the mud off it today. I also took the electric fuel pump out of it and replaced it with the pickup tube and screen out of the 85' pickup gas tank (since I will be using the mechanical fuel pump with the 302)

 

Was it a simple swap? I might do that with mine as opposed to running a regulator

 

It was pretty easy, I just cut the donor pickup tube aprox the same length as the electric fuel pump and attatch it using rubber fuel line and a couple clamps, I had to bend the pickup tube and straighten it a little bit to get the screen angle to mimic the angle of the electric fuel pump screen... hopefully that makes sense, lol.

 

Yep lol

 

I got the dual electric fans mounted today, it is really tight but it fits. I put in the alternator in with the v-belt to make sure everything would clear. I am still going to have to figure out something for the power steering pump, unfortunately the 85' parts truck didn't have power steering, so I'll probably have to fab up my own bracket, and need to replace the crank shaft single pulley that I have for a double pulley. I still need to get the fans wired up.







^^^I couldn't get very good pictures of the fans installed, but you get the idea, lol.

I also got the gas tank mounted. It's funny how something that should be quick and easy ends up turning into a major PITA! I couldn't get the bolt hole on the gas tank to line up. I mean they were way off (on the end that has the bracket that attaches to the frame and the gas tank bolts to the bracket) Even if it had bolted up it would have been right against the driveline. I even tried a different bracket that I had, same thing, so after fighting it for what seemed like forever I ended up drilling new holes in the bracket spaced over about an inch...problem solved!

 

Those darn little things in life that just get it the way lol.. does ur radiator have room to wiggle with ur runner body?