YoJimbo

All sealed up and running better after jb weld action. Used the rest of the goop to temporary permanent seal the rain leaking into cab through passenger side front cowl vent.

Yup, I might even know who over tightened it.... 👋😑 doh. Thanks for the input!

Found the vacuum leak I've been searching for on my '85 z24 rwd. Hoping to repair it with jb weld, and also considering other long term options as far as repair or replacement. I don't have much of a budget for this right now so hopefully I can seal it up well enough with some of that goop. There is also no real rush to repair as the plates for the truck are stuck at the DMV and they are "closed until further notice". No luck finding a replacement at the junkyards here. Lots of d21s and hardbodies laying around though. I don't think much goop will squeeze into the crack so I'm planning to clean the area well, rough it up a bit and cover it up with the stuff as best as possible. Definitely going to plug everything nearby to prevent any goop going where it shouldn't. Any insight or ideas are welcome. Hope everyone is getting through this pandemic alright.

Thanks for the info bottomwatcher. Will certainly take it into consideration when I can finally snag enough spare time to get the coolant flush party going. Cool to hear about others doing oyster restoration work. We have to fight them when they grow all over the commercial operation tanks, in the research tanks we let them grow til they are big enough to pluck off the walls hehehehehhe, healthy oysters are tough as nails even at a few mm in size!

Forgot to mention that i also did a little chemical coolant flush ingredient research at the local auto parts store and Napa yesterday after work while on the hunt for gl-4 gear oil. Could only find one product that listed any ingredients and all it said was "caution: contains alkaline derivatives". If that's the case then it would support the idea of using dish soap.

After doing a little more research, using dishwasher soap mixed with distilled water seems to be a method preferred by a few guys that have had success cleaning their cooling systems. Here's a link to the post https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2618740 Sending an acid through the system seems a bit sketchy to me considering it's ability to mess up metals. But maybe the proper dilution would make it very effective and not harmful to the radiator or block. Anyone know what types of metals make up a stock z24 engine and cooling system? Earlier in this discussion I learned that the stock radiator itself is copper/brass.

Thanks for the quick replies guys. After giving it some thought, I'm motivated to clean the radiator myself. The fin rot doesn't seem too extensive yet, so i'm planning on hitting it with some matte black like you said datzenmike. Bottomwatcher, any idea what the concentration of that acid you used was? And datzenmike, is CLR short for chlorine? At work we regularly clean tanks covered in oyster seed with muriatic acid. 4 to 8L of ~30% muriatic in about 4,000L of freshwater will eat through and soften up oysters that are set to the tank, oysters that are anywhere from 2mm to ~15mm in size will almost melt after 2 or 3 days of soaking, sometimes 4. Having a submersible pump running in the tank keeps the water moving and gets the gunk cleaned more thoroughly. This equals less scrubbing and pains in the neck for us... So here's what I'm getting at. If the radiator is grimed up with scale, the block must be also. So if I only clean the radiator I'm missing a significant part of the action. Has anyone had any luck running cleaning solutions through the block and the radiator? I'm contemplating mixing up a medium strength acid solution and running it through the engine for a minute or two to see what happens... But i'm hesitant because i sure as hell don't know what exactly i'm doing! One of the uncles at the parts store talked me out of buying chemical coolant flush one day. He said a lot of guys won't use a chemical cleaner on older vehicles for fear of dislodging large chunks of scuzz which may in turn cause bigger problems than if the chunks were left unbothered clinging to the walls... But if I'm thorough in my work maybe I can get all the chunks out.... Shit, late for work. Time for me to go get covered in algae. Thanks fellas it's been fun!

Got a lead on what sounds like one of the last guys in town that repairs radiators, Jimmy the radiator man. Heard a lot of good stuff about him. Planning to take in the radiator day after tomorrow for him to have a look. Motivated to support local crew doing honest business. Hopefully they can spruce up that crusty rad of mine. Thanks Charlie. Dug deep in the scrap bolt bucket at home and work, found a good size bolt for the heater bypass plugs. Cut it in half and got to plugging the bypass. Not very amped about the cheap hose clamps but it's all i could come up with today. Here's to using what's on hand! ?

Thanks very much for this info datzenmike! That bypass has been making me feel uneasy since I found it. Reminds me of the many no budget scrambled spaghetti plumbing scenarios that I've found working on the fish farm. Another reminder to not re-plumb unless you know the whole story. Very helpful to get a straightforward and sensible answer about it. Definitely going to fix it up asap, hoping i get a chance to snag the parts if i finish work before the supply store closes today. Maxchlan, if you can find that parts number I would appreciate it. I'm definitely on the hunt for a solid radiator that will bolt in without too much hassle. Thanks for all the input everyone.

Definitely glad I finally got the chance to flush out the system a bit. Doing my best to keep this great truck on the road for many more years. Dunno if it was the rain falling on the canopy and the brews I had, but I swear the engine seems like it is running smoother after the flush. If it's only placebo, i'll just call it peace of mind.

Changed differential oil with gl-5 a couple weeks ago. Found a few curly shavings of metal in it... Planning to change the transmission fluid asap, need to buy a few more liters of that gl-4 sauce. Re-torqued the head bolts a month ago after reading a post where you mentioned it datzenmike. Much more relaxing cruising around town after re-torquing those. Although I don't trust my harbor freight torque wrench a whole lot... Thank you for the heads up on that.

The coolant that drained out was mostly water with a light mix of old green antifreeze. There was not as much swamp skuz living in there as I imagined there would be after all these years. Here's a look at the majority of the grit, grime and scale... Flushed as best as I could with garden hose, sprayed back and forth through all the radiator fittings, upper and lower hoses, block drain plug and heater hoses. Sometime along the road someone bypassed the cab heater by connecting the heater hoses to each other via an elbow fitting. Did my best to remedy the bends and flop by re-using the healthy and best fitting length of original hose to make the route a bit more direct and less bent. New hose for all the cooling system is now near the top of the project list (better get some new hose clamps too). It's a bit of a tight bend coming out of the block, hope I can improve it somehow soon. Did not hook the hoses back up to the heater yet because I was short on time and did not want to find coolant swamping into the cab tomorrow morning before work. This is a view of my attempt to smooth out the jalopy heater bypass.. Although I did not open the housing to have a look, I'm almost certain there is no thermostat. Seems like a prime fit to compliment the island style heater bypass. Sure enough when the truck is running the coolant is immediate flowing through the radiator....

Here's a peek inside... Looks like someone has been adding msg and turmeric to the coolant for awhile! Secret engine preservation techniques?? XD

Thanks for the tip on the paint and the chemistry lesson datzenmike. The corroded zones flake off and disintegrate quite easily under the fingers. Good reminder that copper and brass do break down eventually. Thisismatt, I was thinking the same thing, maybe the copper is starting to show through the black paint. Whatever the case is, the majority of the fins still seem to be solid. Drvndrvr, the innards have a layer of light orange built up across most parts. I'll get a pic of it soon. Sister just showed up and she is hangry, so I better start cooking the dumplings she brought! Definitely going to scrounge up some flat black paint and maybe start tracking down a new rad. Thanks for all the input guys

Copper and brass, that makes sense! Still looks like rust to me though... maybe there is something else coming into play. The rot seems to follow the general pattern of the metal cross piece that the rad bolts to. Kind of a squahed flying v shape hehehhe Here is a closer look.. And alittle closer... host image