LJ78 Radiator Replacement / Repair

[Wills]

I've had a look online to find a new radiator for my LJ78 and the only one I've found is one that says specifically that its for the manual car.

http://www.roughtrax4x4.com/genuine-radiator-90-93.html

Does anyone know if this one would fit my auto car?

Cheers!

 

[Shayne]

Then you will need a separate oil cooler . Forgive me for saying Wills i do wonder if you are jumping the gun especially if your parents are bankrolling things . At present there is nothing wrong with your truck , your real want is an engine swap (squeezing a 4.2 in there would require some some exemplary skills i reckon) maybe you should just settle for a Forte flush and replace the coolant with some good Toyota red (roughtrax) and give yourself time to get to know your motor and to work out what you need and what you don't .

I'm a learner myself i've had my cruiser 4 years and started out going for big wheels and more power and i'm still a bit that way now but as times gone on i have learned to respect my truck warts n all where its weak and where its strong and i have learned everything from participating in this forum . I'm 45 years old my trucks 18 and if i die of old age i want somebody driving my truck to my funeral .

 

[Wills]

I do have a habit of getting ahead of myself! The parents aren't paying for anything... Long time since they did that. I had really nice bmw before this, loved it, polished it, maintained it, then had trouble with my business I'm setting up and had to sell it fast and as a result, lost a lot of money on it. So I consoled myself by buying a cruiser. I know I may come across as overly keen at this point - flinging ideas around about changing the engine etc which must be frustrating for you all, I bet every new owner does that - I should have thought about how frustrating it is for me when people spout rubbish and have grand ideas about austin sevens on the forums... Apologies!


My Austin seven race car I built from scratch over the last 7 years, I am now competing in the VSCC hillclimb championship. Modified from 10hp to 42hp.
Like you when I die, I'd like someone to pop its road wheels wings and lamps on, and drive it to my funeral.


My Austin Seven Chummy, very slow and steady, I'm beginning plans with a group of nutters across the country to drive a group of these from Twickenham to Tokyo for the Rugby WC final.

I know my sevens inside out now having spent years working on them, tinkering, modifying, improving when money is available. I am genuinely interested in improving the cruiser I have right now and I'm sure I will learn as I do it.

I can't afford to do anything major until everything blows over at work and I'm earning money again which may take a while, and I may have improved mine so much by then that I'll have completely forgotten about the mighty 4.2...

Anyhow, thanks as always for the advice

 

[Shayne]

Not as young as i guessed then the above would have made great info for your introduction instead i seem to remember you thanking your parents for your truck , well thats my defence anyway and thumbs up for the Austin i'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the cruiser

 

[Wills]

Ha! I'm still young - Im 26! Nah, I thanked them for "letting" me ruin their flower bed when I visited last, testing my wheels weren't touching the bodywork on full articulation - I thought they might as I've got -32 wheels on it now. Mum was deeply unimpressed, luckily I'd pegged it before she got back! I lost a mudflap that afternoon, which she found... Guilty.

Back to the cruiser, I've lost over litre of coolant in the 1700km I've done in it so far. It has a damp sheen over the core even after use - I think it's leaking out of the header tank.

Given the warnings from everyone about the 2.4 cooling issues, I think this needs attention first hence the question about whether the manual radiator roughtrax supply would fit the auto lj78 as I can't find one specifically for the auto. I spoke to roughtrax earlier and they didn't know if it would fit, so here I am again on the forum

 

[Shayne]

I'm not the best to advise you because i drive a 90 but i did a search and couldn't find anything . I will guess your oil cooler is for the transmission ?

I bought a kzj90 rad from roughtrax for my manual truck but the same rad can also be used in an auto because the transmission oil simply passes through a separate compartment at the bottom of the rad . This is left unconnected in my truck as manuals have no tranny oil cooler .

Putting a separate oil cooler on autos is a fairly common mod with the 80 and 90 series cruisers as old rads mixing oil with coolant when they fail is a recognized problem .

I think there is a very good chance the rad you posted will fit and Roughtrax do like to help when they can so why not email them for dimensions to compare with your own .

 

[doyle61]

I recently bought an lj70 myself but I'm deployed to Lebanon atm so can't start work on it till I get home next month. Like you and nearly everyone else who has that engine, it will get replaced in my truck aswell. If you have the money handy I'd get a donor car go onto Ben's thread and follow it. I'm hoping the head isn't gone on my truck so I can have a bit of breathing space and get everything else sorted before I tackle the engine. If fingers crossed the engine is good I'm going to get an aluminium rad made and put into it. My brother in law recommended this because he says it will disapate the heat better than a standard rad and should give me the time I need to get sorted. As I said I have my heart set on a 3ltr but he's taking a different road with his lj70. He's putting a 2.5 efi engine out of a hi ace into his. Ye it won't be in the 3ltr category but he reckons it'll be more than good enough. I'm waiting to see how his turns out and if it works I might do it myself. But anyway, imo what you need to do is find out of your engine is sound. If it isn't replace it but if it is I'd get an aluminium one made and stick that in to give yourself breathing space. He said it'd cost me around €300 to get made so I'd say it should be cheaper in uk as everything is way more expensive in Ireland. Btw that is one sweet cruiser you have there. Was very tempted to get one myself

 

[alexy]

radiator aside, I think its worth looking at the fan clutch as well.

I lowered the temperature setting on the fan clutch and filled it with 10000cst silicone oil.
Fuel consumption increased by 0.7/100 and its noisier but temperature hasn't spiked since.

also, fan belts were slipping a bit too.

 

[Shayne]

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[Wills]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate this information! Steep learning curve.

Doyle61 good luck with your LJ70 project, fingers crossed your engine is good! I will look into the aluminium rad idea as the roughtrax one is well over £300, so it may be my best bet. Regarding the engine swaps, I will be interested to hear how your brother in law gets on. I've really got my heart set on a 12v 4.2 diesel, but like shayne said, it would take mind blowing skills to squeeze it in the 78.

So far I think mine is ok, but one thing that is bothering me is that it has green/yellow engine coolant in it (as it was when I bought the it).
Toyota Red is on order from roughtrax and I feel a full coolant system flush coming on.

Alexy, thanks for the suggestion - i could certainly do with another 0.7l/100km - and now you mention it I've found a few threads on ih8mud and this forum that touch on that. I also heard that putting the bigger fan off the V6 4runner also helps cooling quite a bit:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FAN-BLADE-F...ash=item20e79ead7c:g:7dsAAOSwGzlTyAYW&vxp=mtr

 

[Shayne]

My first choice for an engine swap would be a 1kz from an import prado 90 because it has an intercooler as standard .
I have 2 swb 90's , one with a 1kz with boost controller retrofit intercooler and a 3" exhaust and the other with a standard 1kd . Check the specs of the 1kd and it should be streets ahead of the 1kz but for me it is in 2nd place by a country mile .

 

[Wills]

I got very carried away and inquired about importing a D4D 4.5 V8 diesel single turbo engine and manual gearbox from Dubai...

In an ideal world that would be the engine. Its shorter in length than the 4.2, and is about 90kg lighter, and of course, its more powerful and economical by a country mile, return 30+mpg. I certainly got over 30 in the one I had in Australia - a single cab v8 ute - but I wasn't carrying anything outrageously heavy.

£8000 + shipping + fitting!

 

[fbnss]

When's it arriving?

 

[Wills]

Ha... So I haven't got 10k+ lying around right now. I have to say I was surprised by the performance of my truck at Lincomb as it is!

Got as far up No.2 as the 80 series on mental tyres, just needed a winch for the last few feet!

 

[fbnss]

well done!