In keeping up with the routine around here I try to bring in a load of gravel 2x a week, Monday and Friday. Also I had the privilege of having to replace the radiator on the Scion since it decided to spring a pinhole leak that ended up growing progressively larger to the point that it was affecting driving since the coolant was coming out fast enough and dropping pressure in the cooling system that it was causing the temps to rise. Anyway, after hitting up Auto Zone and getting a replacement rad and spending more than what I would've normally ended up paying if I bought online or from one of these local places that stocks the generic stuff.
So anyway the only thing I can rest easy on with this job is the idea that the swap out would really take no time. The rad is held in by two brackets on top of the unit and then there's just the hoses for the coolant and the tranny lines and the overflow bottle. The only other thing that I would have to worry about is removing some of the splash panel underneath to allow me to access things from underneath. After pulling the brackets loose and pulling the hoses loose, which took no real time, along with the panel underneath, which was already in a bit of a shitty state that it only had three bolts really holding in place, and unplugging the fans, I was able to remove the whole rad with the fans still attached. A thing about the fans though, since the original fan assembly crapped out, I ended up using a couple of universal aftermarket fans that attach to the surface of the rad. These fans are of a high enough CFM flow that they get the job done pretty good, even in the hot weather. Now the way they're held in place is with these locking stems that press through the fins of the rad and are held in place with a locking disk on the other side of the rad. That was what ended up causing the hole in the rad, the stems didn't lock as tight as they should've been and one of the fans was able to vibrate around enough that the stem wore a hole on one of the coolant passages. After pulling the fans from the old rad and setting that unit aside since I could actually attempt a repair of the damaged area, I changed up how I attached the fans. Instead of reusing the old stems and their retaining washers, I just used the foam pads that keep the fan's hard plastic surface off of the rad's flimsy metal surface. I then took regular zip ties and pressed them through the fins then reinserted them through the fins about 1/4" apart, securing the zip ties to hold the fan in place. The zip ties are situated where they can't really rub on the surface of the coolant passages like the loose stems did before. With the zip ties the fans are nicely secured to the surface of the rad where they can't vibrate and cause problems. With the fans attached I swapped the bushings on the pegs on the bottom of the rad from the old to the new and placed the new rad back in the car. After attaching the hoses and plugging up the fans, I reinstalled the brackets to secure the unit in place. I then spent some time installing extra fasteners to the splash pans underneath to ensure all three sections were securely held in place so they won't vibrate lose or get caught in the rotating tires. After filling up the rad with coolant I started up the car and turned the AC on to let the system get hot quicker. Even at a standstill everything was cooperating despite the intense heat outside. Another success has been realized and the Scion is able to hit the road again to bring in some more money to fund our exploits. With the car done I moved on to the gravel. As I had been doing before, I would take a few wheelbarrows full of gravel and spread it over some more area in the firewood staging area to cover more ground to allow me to place a couple more pallets (even though I need more pallets). I also spread some more gravel over some areas where the gravel settled and allowed water to pool up when it rained, or where mud was starting to push up through the gravel so I can keep the ground evenly covered. As I had made note of before, I will have to come back over multiple areas with more gravel even after I finish the initial covering so I can get the ground evenly covered with a nice thick layer of gravel for both aesthetics and so when I end up laying on the ground I don't end up with a wet ass or extra dirt on me from mud and dirt. The remainder of the gravel went on the side path between the garden fence and the storage trailer, covering that ground some more and getting it ready for more vehicular traffic, especially since I plan on parking a couple more project vehicles along the garden fence in this area. Eventually I'll be able to start covering the backyard area to get that area prepped up for the future plans I have when it comes to construction in that area. The work continues.....
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