Slowly getting there! A few setbacks, but progress feels steady for the first time since removing the bumper!
Water Stuff!
I flushed the coolant using distilled water, slowly producing cleaner and cleaner results.
My idea was that I could simply dilute the existing coolant with distilled water until it was clear, as it would come from the radiator hoses.
This would mean air would never enter the engine, making the bleeding process much easier.
My flawed logic became apparent when I began thinking about putting concentrated coolant in.
It too would become diluted, and the distilled water that came out would be partially coolant.
This would mean that I'd be wasting coolant, and I'd end up with a lot more coolant to eventually dispose of.
This is an example of this dilution process in its ever so snail-paced action:
As you can see, I was already amassing quite the collection of dubious liquid.
This process was going far too slow, and after removing the thermostat in order to check it, most of the coolant was out already.
I decided I was going to get more jack stands and get to the coolant pipes in the middle in order to drain all the coolant properly, but before that, I wanted to get the radiator in as it was in the way of putting up the Christmas tree!
REASSEMBLY STUFF!
I had purchased some replacement lower radiator mounts on ebay.
They are 3D printed from a slightly rubbery plastic, and will do the job well enough.
after cleaning the radiators new home a bit more, I began trying to stick it in.
It became clear I'd have to angle it, and slot it in from the bottom.
A number of issues became apparent, such as the bleeder cap being too tall to fit, and the hoses were not going to play nice.
For the time being, I removed the bleeder cap and initially tried having the hoses installed on the radiator.
This did not work.
I could not get the hoses to line up anywhere near the stainless tubes, as they would catch below them.
I ended up realising that you could put the hoses on the stainless tubes overly far, which would allow further room for the radiator pipes to clear.
Armed with this newfound knowledge, I shoved the radiator in, squishing the hoses and admittedly getting a little frustrated by this point.
The lower mounts had to be on the radiator in order to get it in, and once it was able to stay in on its own, I had to get the hoses onto the radiator.
.
.
I realised that there was no way I could do this from above the car, and so I jacked up the front.
This was the first time I got underneath the car.
With the car on jack stands, I could get to the hoses from underneath.
Awkwardly, but I could.
I was able to get the nearside hose on first, rotating it until it would slip forward onto the radiator.
It was actually quite easy.
Onto the next one.
Naturally it refused to move.
I tried and tried, and it would not slip off the stainless pipe.
And so I battled and battled with it until I ached all over.
Twisting and pulling and swearing, and going quite positively mad.
Eventually I twisted it more, and it began moving! It was slightly twisted, and this upped the friction.
With the pipe lined up properly, I was able to get it onto the radiator.
It still put up a fight but it was actually doable this time.
I of course had to think about the orientation of the jubilee clips before I got the hoses on, and it wasn't optimal, but it was perfectly fine with the room to work underneath the car.
I scrambled my way out from under the radiator and I was able to see what it would look like installed for the first time.
Next was the beam that goes around the opening above the radiator.
This went back quite easily, and copper grease was used on EVERY bolt, given that I have less than half of the 10mm bolts in unsnapped condition.
Once this was installed, I began reinstalling the radiator top brackets.
They do NOT line up at ALL.
Another fitment issue with the Mishimoto!
The bolt holes lined up with some downwards pressure.
I was able to install them, despite the clips not even being remotely close.
All they need to do is apply downwards pressure, and this, they do.
If I wanted it to be absolutely perfect, I'd have to fabricate some new mounts.
This is not the end of the world as replacement OEM top brackets are SUPER expensive for what they are.
I assume because they are all mostly rusted to bits by now.
As they do the trick, and are covered by the rad cover, I do not care enough for now.
And here we have it.
.
.
The new rad installed.
By this point, my work area had become a complete and utter mess.
No, I still have not tidied up.
I still didn't have the bleeder cap on, as it still didn't fit.
It was too tall and wide to clear the chassis beam.
Kind of disappointing, however I just so happen to have a mini-lathe!
So I chucked it up, and cut a 45 degree chamfer on top in order to clear the frame.
I was quite happy with this solution, as it looked pretty clean and worked perfectly.
I could now fully remove the cap without having to unmount the rad.
I REALLY wanted to get the headlights back together as I was losing my memory of where all the bolts went.
So I made this my next priority.
It all went smoothly, as I still remembered mostly where everything went.
I reinstalled the froot latch and closed it for the first time in a good while.
It finally almost looks like an MR2 again.
OK no that is a stretch, but progress is progress, and at this stage, having this much reassembled felt SUPER good!
BACK TO WATER STUFF!
And so I hopped in the Corolla and whizzed over to halfords to get some more jack stands.
Armed with four, I jacked the rear up too, and practically launched myself under the car, along with a drain pan and a ratchet wrench.
Out comes the farside coolant plug, along with what was essentially just water at this point.
It was initially a little cloudy, and therefore at least not a total waste of time.
It also made room for the new stuff once I get it.
Onto the next side!
Socket on the bolt, aaand!
*SNAP*
The head broke off.
queue actual panic.
The sealing surface is gone, leaving a slightly corroded thread as the only thing that would potentially hold in all of my future coolant.
I knew that unless I sorted this same day, it would ruin my week.
Sleepless nights and mopey days at work were ahead unless I got this beast out!
And so I watched a couple of videos.
The steps I could take that weren't too drastic were WD40,
"shocking the bolt"
(literally hitting it), blowtorch,
& then trying to hit it in a rotational manner with an old chisel.
So I dashed it with WD40, Shocked it with a hammer and my least favourite screwdriver, heated the surrounding area, got a hammer and chisel, and awkwardly smacked it.
It bit into the bolt great and I thought that there was no way it would fail to remove the bolt.
It failed to remove the bolt.
It literally cut into the bolt nearly to the threads before it began to turn.
The only thing that I could do from here on was to weld something to the exposed part of the bolt and try to turn it.
After complaining about this situation to everyone who would listen, and armed with nearly 3 minutes of YouTube knowledge, along with a confidence only necessity could muster, I got straight back under the car.
Welding gloves and MIG torch in hand.
This is when I discovered that my welding mask barely fits beneath the car on stands.
So I raise the whole car on stands to their maximum height.
Back under the car with a nut I found on the floor, I lay a small bead on the exposed bolt, hold the nut over it, and go to town.
I was so confident it would work straight away.
It did not.
I tried another nut, and the same happened.
It broke free before the bolt began to turn.
I had read that you should NOT weld a washer first, for whatever reason and so that was exactly what I did.
My logic was, that because I couldn't get a decent weld at the base of the nut, welding a washer first would allow me to get at least a decent weld to the bolt.
Then I could weld any size nut I wanted to the washer, inside and out.
So I grabbed a washer and a nut, held the pool over the bolt and circled it around the washer.
It looked pretty good, and so I welded a large nut to the washer.
IT MOVED! Only a little bit before it snapped off, but it's progress!
One final time, I welded a washer to the bolt, welded a nut to the washer, let it cool, and got a wrench on it.
Fully expecting it to break, I apply pressure and twist.
It begins to move, and I expect a scorching hot nut to land on my arm any moment.
But it doesn't.
It just keeps turning!
Turning and turning until its finger loose, and so I get my gloved hand and begin to undo it finally.
The bolt drops out, and all I see is a jet of steaming water shooting directly towards my face.
As if I were Indiana Jones, I rolled out of the way just in time as the steaming water hits the floor.
I believe that the water still in the pipe may have made welding to the nut harder as it would absorb some of the heat needed to get a decent bond.
Anyhow, it was out, and so was all the old coolant.
Here are my monsterpieces that eventually got it out:
Radio Stuff!
Yes, I bought another head unit.
I put the Kenwood into the Corolla, and found a nice Pioneer on sale for a steal! I really wanted a spectrum analyser before I got the Kenwood, and even though it is tiny, it does have one.
This combined with an actual CD player makes this essentially THE unit I originally wanted!
It looks a little less cheap, and I think it suits the car more, despite being a modern unit.
Even through the same speakers, I could hear a stark difference from the Kenwood! It was much clearer sounding, and had more options for audio control, and has a far better app! Very happy with the new unit, and the Kenwood is still getting used in the Corolla.
Win-Win!
I have still got my Tang Band sub, and OEM sub box to fit, along with a VIBE audio amp and wiring kit.
This is on the back burner however, as my efforts are going towards the cooling system at the moment.
I need to remove the passenger seat to install the amp, and where the car is right now, I can't open the car door far enough to get it out.
The car will need to be able to move by its own gumption first.
Once I installed the radio, I was mucking about with the shifter and having now driven the Corolla as a daily, it truly hit how bad it felt.
I was not confident I could find the gear I actually wanted.
It was really that bad.
To avoid incident, and also to give in to temptation, I purchased from Prime-MR2, a spherical bearing kit, new sugarcube shift linkage, and their TRD/ C's Shifter.
Hopefully with all this, The shifter will feel WAY better!
RUST STUFF!
I discovered a number of issues whilst the car was lifted.
The first of which I already knew about, and one other I expected.
This is on the driver side, behind the rear right wheel arch, beneath the boot.
I believe water got in via the antenna, sat in the dip next to the boot, and just ate through.
Its fairly superficial, and I knew about it from pulling the boot liner before.
I will have to remove the rear bumper at some point and perform a full restoration of that area too.
This will be part of that restoration.
I also noticed a nasty rust spot around a bunged hole beneath the engine bay vent.
The passenger side was passable, however the driver's side has some pretty bad flaking rust, and the rubber bung had crusted up.
I managed to push it in, into the inaccesible void, like an absolute idiot, but I will likely clean the area and close the hole before the car goes back on the road.
This was the condition of the front running gear as seen from beneath the car.
It wasn't great, but all of the chassis mounting points look actually really good, and perhaps a full running gear refinish is due in the future.
I'd like to give it all a nice thick new coat of paint after removing all that flaky crust!
The only things that may actually need replacing are the anti-roll bars, as they have the worst corrosion.
Very happy with the state of the car so far though, It very well could have been much worse!
BACK TO RADIATOR STUFF!
YES THAT'S RIGHT, NOTHING EVER GOES TO PLAN!
My new thermostat arrived, and its so small I could lose it down the coolant hose! So much for
"Fits your 1993 Toyota MR2"!
My new radiator fan temp sensor arrived, and my fans still stay on all the time! Unsure if some other issue had caused this, I began looking up wiring diagrams as I did when I had my tail fuse issue.
I began pulling fuses and relays to narrow down which device was at fault.
It was between the new fan sensor and the AC pressure sensor.
Every image or description of this fabled AC pressure sensor depicted something that simply was not present at least in the same location on my car.
Now I had to scramble to find the original sensor as naturally, I had lost it.
There was nothing else I could do, at least for now.
It was obviously somewhere predictable but still stupid, and once installed, the fans stopped! They will need to be tested eventually, but for now, I'm waiting on some replacement bolts that I got in stainless, a new thermostat that actually fits, and then I can put new coolant in it! I do have the full main coolant pipe kit, and am debating installing it while I have the system drained.
COROLLA TIME!
Nothing new, just a pic of the rolla after work!
At this point, I am just aching to drive the car, as I've only actually done so on 3 separate occasions so far!
But the old coolant and gunk is out! MOST of the broken bolts are out! And the car is on its way to being back on the road!
Until next time! 3:20AM, Wine-Drunk Ewan, out!
"Don't judge my nut & bolt management. I know exactly where they all go, and they will stay there until they are back in the car! "
