Cool McCool's Garage

If this looks like a puddle of anti-freeze on the floor under the radiator, that’s because it is.  You might be thinking, “Brian, didn’t you check that radiator BEFORE you built a truck around it?”, and you’d be right to ask.

The answer is “Yes, I did”, though, and I was quite upset the other day when I put a gallon of coolant in, and the filler cap, now on the bottom and serving as a drain, dripped slowly.

Over two days, it leaked out this little puddle.  Not a lot, but enough to be worrisome, especially considering the radiator is impossible to remove without taking the hood, grill shell, and one front fender off.

I had several methods of removing the (presumably) leaky radiator, all of them involving a sawzall, but I was saved that grief today, when I put the new cap on after draining the radiator.  Turns out, it was just the cap, which wasn’t sealing.  It probably leaked a little coolant before in the van it came from, but I couldn’t see it, as it went right into the recovery tank.

Whew!

So, the radiator is full, and happily, no leaks.  I hooked up the antenna to the radio, installed the aluminum trim between the box floor and diamond plate side panels, so that is done as well.

Next step, fire it up, let it idle and make sure all hose clamps and fittings are tight and fan works and top it off.  Top off the trans and cooling systems, and we should be ready for a trip to the muffler shop.

I’m going up to Crafty B’s tomorrow, where we’ll see if we can drill and re-tap the lug nuts for rear wheels, as I have to have the Dodge lug nuts to hold the hub caps on.  Plus, the taper is incorrect on the lug nuts currently holding the rear wheels on, and I’d really like them to stay on (ask me what happens when you don’t re-check lug nuts on new aluminum wheels sometime…).   The wheel studs on the rear end are different size, and LH threads on the left side, I’d like to simply re-tap the Dodge lug nuts I have and use them.