front arb locker works. Air free spool works. Compressor finished wired. Dash had to be narrowed to fit the door bars (not sure why I have pictures of it in and out with the door bars in but think it’s cause of the center panel). Parker pumper finished. Horns in and wired to a button. Switch pros programmed. Dash mounts in. And I’m sure more. Works been busy and we got a bit of snow over the last week that’s kept me busy
Local Legend Not much left Tacoma left... 4500 koh build
- Thread starter Hambone
- Start date
Lots of stuff fighting me but we are getting there. The passenger seat doesn’t fit as the top shoulder area is wider. And a big overheating issue. Thinking it’s a bad thermostat so going to replace that.
Windshield is out. I made the panels for behind the head. Just need to bead roll and cut the middle out for mesh. My dad’s back and we got one fender mounted. Plan is the other tomorrow. Dash is In for good. Wirings complete. New chase bar on the back above the radiator. Radio mount. Window nets ordered. Seat belts in. And I’m sure more. Haven’t really been taking pictures. Just been working trying to get things done. We went for a small test drive and it felt good.
Steering is very twitchy and feels like it’s trying to find center but wanders back and forth. I can feel it in the wheel like it’s transferring between valves or something if anyone has any input on that.
Windshield is out. I made the panels for behind the head. Just need to bead roll and cut the middle out for mesh. My dad’s back and we got one fender mounted. Plan is the other tomorrow. Dash is In for good. Wirings complete. New chase bar on the back above the radiator. Radio mount. Window nets ordered. Seat belts in. And I’m sure more. Haven’t really been taking pictures. Just been working trying to get things done. We went for a small test drive and it felt good.
Steering is very twitchy and feels like it’s trying to find center but wanders back and forth. I can feel it in the wheel like it’s transferring between valves or something if anyone has any input on that.
Thermostat ordered. Drained the coolant today and caught almost all of it and didn’t make a mess so that was good. My dad and I got the passenger fender mounted. Will try to get that in Friday and start bleeding the system. At some point I’ll try to put some kind of grill on it but it’s a super low priority.
I got the new thermostat in yesterday and a quick heat cycle. I pulled the jiggle valve out of it and made sure to have the hole at the top.
Today I spent all morning trying to bleed it. Someone else suggested the bypass might be causing issues so I pinched it off. At first it seemed to work and right at 160 the thermostat opened and it took a ton of coolant. Was idling with low temps then it just started to climb and never stopped. All the fittings on the radiator and water pump are the same temp so I think this thermostat is atleast opening. I cracked the steam ports till I got coolant. But the passenger side of the radiator is still getting only warm while the driver is hot (75-80* vs 150-160*).
Pretty sure the air bubble is in the radiator. Going to try and jack the back up tomorrow and do some more heat cycles. If that doesn’t work I’ll order a vacuum pump system to vacuum bleed the system. I stood the radiator up to see if that helps too. I’ll try lifting the fill side up some to get the bubble out.
Today I spent all morning trying to bleed it. Someone else suggested the bypass might be causing issues so I pinched it off. At first it seemed to work and right at 160 the thermostat opened and it took a ton of coolant. Was idling with low temps then it just started to climb and never stopped. All the fittings on the radiator and water pump are the same temp so I think this thermostat is atleast opening. I cracked the steam ports till I got coolant. But the passenger side of the radiator is still getting only warm while the driver is hot (75-80* vs 150-160*).
Pretty sure the air bubble is in the radiator. Going to try and jack the back up tomorrow and do some more heat cycles. If that doesn’t work I’ll order a vacuum pump system to vacuum bleed the system. I stood the radiator up to see if that helps too. I’ll try lifting the fill side up some to get the bubble out.
I messed with it more today. Just idling it didn’t take more fluid. I tried lifting the rear with the engine hoist. Shaking the radiator. And all sorts of other stuff including cracking lines. In a last ditch effort went for a drive and backed up a rock and let it Idle. It took longer but it still hit 220. Still feel like there’s an air bubble in the radiator as passenger side was only warm (warmer than before but not hot like the driver).
Talked to some more people and one suggested a higher psi radiator cap so wife grabbed a 20 and 22psi and a new water pump. I ordered fittings to go from the heater barbs to a lines with caps as well.
Tomorrow. I’ll try the different cap and run down to the rock with the funnel and some coolant in a hope to burp the system and maybe clamp off the heater core loop.
The steering’s also giving me issues but been posting in the 4500 steering thread to try and figure that out.
Looks cool. I just want drive it though.
Talked to some more people and one suggested a higher psi radiator cap so wife grabbed a 20 and 22psi and a new water pump. I ordered fittings to go from the heater barbs to a lines with caps as well.
Tomorrow. I’ll try the different cap and run down to the rock with the funnel and some coolant in a hope to burp the system and maybe clamp off the heater core loop.
The steering’s also giving me issues but been posting in the 4500 steering thread to try and figure that out.
Looks cool. I just want drive it though.
Thinking I may have a bad radiator… Im waiting to hear from the company to see what they are going to do before I attempt to add a baffle cause this one isn’t doing anything. My theory is the baffle is allowing hot water to go in and right back out. Company says 10% of fluid should pass but there’s clearly more. The top fitting is the same temp as the bottom fitting and that side of the radiator is same temp as coolant in the motor. Meanwhile the opposite side of the radiator is cool to warm at best. Last pictures are of the baffle through a bore scope.
Plan for fix is a drill a hole in the top of the radiator. Bend the old baffle down. Cut a slit in the middle of the tank and slide a piece of aluminum in and fit it as close to the fins as possible. Then weld it from the outside to close the slit and hold the plate. Then weld a npt bung in the top hole for the steam port return.
Worked on some other things to not be so frustrated. Side number plates (bead roll is just for looks. Number will cover entire plate). Secondary door latches.
Plan for fix is a drill a hole in the top of the radiator. Bend the old baffle down. Cut a slit in the middle of the tank and slide a piece of aluminum in and fit it as close to the fins as possible. Then weld it from the outside to close the slit and hold the plate. Then weld a npt bung in the top hole for the steam port return.
Worked on some other things to not be so frustrated. Side number plates (bead roll is just for looks. Number will cover entire plate). Secondary door latches.
Company agreed to replace the radiator but said it would take roughly 2 weeks to make. I went ahead and added a baffle of my own to the old radiator. Drilled a hole in the top for a npt bung and used a rod to bend the old baffle down. Then cut a slit in the tank and slid a plate in and welded it up. My tig welding isn’t that good and aluminum is even harder. But got it sealed it up and a 180 thermostat installed and no more overheating.
I also adjusted the preload on the steering box cap which took away the darting I was getting when driving on the asphalt.
Finally got to actually drive the thing today and it’s great. It’s fast. Smooth and just overall fun. Hottest I saw was 196 and seemed to stay around 189-192.
I do need to update the Holley computer and screen to v3 so I can upload the “tune” I made which is just changing the inputs to turn on the transmission fan. Not sure if anyone has any experience with this as the screen and ecu are v2 and I’d prefer to just keep it that as I’m not very computer savvy and the updating looks semi complicated.
I also adjusted the preload on the steering box cap which took away the darting I was getting when driving on the asphalt.
Finally got to actually drive the thing today and it’s great. It’s fast. Smooth and just overall fun. Hottest I saw was 196 and seemed to stay around 189-192.
I do need to update the Holley computer and screen to v3 so I can upload the “tune” I made which is just changing the inputs to turn on the transmission fan. Not sure if anyone has any experience with this as the screen and ecu are v2 and I’d prefer to just keep it that as I’m not very computer savvy and the updating looks semi complicated.
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