Finally got the Epic Mobile back!!!
 

Wooooohoooooo!!!!

After a ridiculous 4 months in the shop, I finally got my 95 4Runner back from the mechanic last Friday. I have enjoyed the newer '97 4Runner in the meantime, and it will remain my daily driver, but there's just an emotional attachment I have with that damn Epic Mobile. Maybe it's because of all the money I've sunk into her -- I had the unfortunate task of being forced to total up all the $$ I've put into mods and repairs. I've dropped a staggering $23,000+ into da bitch and I'm still not done! Why, oh why, do we get started down this road. :roll:

So, now that I'm on my third engine and fourth set of head gaskets, my primary responsibility it to make sure it never over heats again. If I have to shove two Eskimos and a penguine in the freakin engine compartment to keep it cool, then that's what I'm going to do. I didn't get to do much off raod with it this weekened, but I did put about 400 miles on her to "stress test" the repairs. All seems to be going well at this point, so hopefully next weekend I'll get a chance to do some off-roading. Steve? Christian? Any of you other PHX area knuckle-draggers want to head some where next weekend?

Keeping with the "spend more money" theme, I'm ordering sliders this afternoon from Stubbs. Steve -- I'll give you a call about this since I'm hoping you'll tackle the welding end of this project.

Fun times!

Ed

I hope I figure out that I need to keep my engine cool after the first engine goes... :laugh:

Well, the first one was due to the notorious head gasket failure -- but mine wasn't covered by the campaign. I dropped in a poorly remanufactured engine that literally blew up about after about 10,000 miles (oil pump failed). I'm still litigating with them to try to recover my cost via their supposed warranty. Third engine has been better (rebuild from another source), but I've had severe and persistent over-heating problems. The heads leaked and needed repair last October ('04) when the fan clutch failed as I was heading up to Flagstaff. I pulled over quickly and the temp gauge never crept past mid-way to the red, but it didn't matter. I even had it towed back. In that brief time above normal temp it blew the gasket.

This last one wasn't my fault. The mechanic fvcked up and redlined it -- cracked one and warped the other beyond repair. New heads for me.

Overall, it has been difficult for me to keep the engine temps cool enough in the summer due to the mods I've made. The TJM bumper blocks off about 40% of the direct air flow to the radiator; the headers create a scorching environment in the engine compartment; toss in steep inclines to get to the cooler area of the state while trying to escape 115+ temps, and I'm always driving with one eye on the temp gauge.

Mods I've made to try to mitigate the heat -- new, three core radiator last year; heavy duty fan clutch; higher pressure radiator cap; replaced the thermostat twice; created an air dam under the bumper to try to scoop more air up toward the radiator; Water-wetter is the only thing I haven't tried yet, but I plan to in a couple of weeks.

Ed