Recommend source for replacement radiator

[stanrob]

OK brothers, I finally got up my gumption, applied my pipe cheater on every single nut, and got that strut out - just as the raindrops began to fall.
I've just contacted essentially every junkyard in eastern MA. The closest I came to a hit was in Lowell. They scrapped their last one two weeks ago!
Would anybody like to ship me one from your neck of the woods? I'll pay of course.
If not, I'm ready to transplant the FWD struts from the Hatchback, and I'll need your help understanding and finding or making spacers and long bolts.
I really don't want to let the front down an inch - I have tires bigger and wider than spec.
First thing I noticed was a blank upper bolt hole in a different position. Would 180 degree rotation matter?

[rer233]

180 degree out hole is for manual as opposed to power steering ie, with PS the rear most hole is used, manual, the front is. (decreases the caster angle to make the car easier to steer without power assist.) As for your strut tube dilemma- I'm with everyone else here- never seen that before. You don't ever get to the Baltimore, DC area by any chance do you? I've got a matched pair of 4wd strut ass'ys but I was kinda going to hold on to 'em....

[irowiki]

Oh, I thought the strut mounting holes were 4WD vs FWD?

[dlb]

i believe cars with either (or both) 4wd and power steering have one strut mount orientation, which means only 2wd cars with manual steering have the other orientation. the FSM is confusing in how it shows it but that's how i interpreted it.

[rer233]

Yeah that could be true- I've only had one terc wagon that utilized the forward position hole- it was a FWD with manual steering. All my 4WD's and my current 2WD have had power steering and use the rear hole. Maybe someone here with a manual steering 4WD could chime in and clear this up?

[irowiki]

I have access to manual 4WD, power 4WD/FWD, will check in the morning.

[stanrob]

I don't see how the blank bolt hole position could affect caster by itself. It seems more likely that the major caster differences (one or two degrees, per FSM at FA-4) would come from nontrivial fore-aft differences in the upper or lower mount position.

Brother rer233, yes Baltimore is closer to Boston than Arizona or British Columbia, but it's still not close enough to beat mailing. Meanwhile, I'll respect your reluctance to give up such treasure!

Before I pull out the Hatchback's struts or try to influence rer233's plans for his struts, I think I'll show the broken strut to my sculptor/welder/mechanic in Cambridge (see some of his work at mrkart.com). He already did some miraculous welding that rescued a friend's van's broken front suspension.

Looking back, I see that the subject of this thread has drifted from radiators to head gaskets, then to AAP-based spark plug damage, then to struts. Should we be relabeling this thread or moving pieces of it to existing or newly labeled threads? I'm new to online forums and hadn't intended to create such unsearchable chaos! I realize I'm guilty of pushing this drift. If it's possible to clean up, tell me and I'll commit to undoing the damage where possible!

[irowiki]

I don't know, we could just re title it to "random tercel part information" or something...

[jimcrazy]

my 85 manual steering 4wd the front holes are pluged

[rer233]

Case closed then!!

[jimcrazy]

just went out and checked 86 2wd power steering wagon I just got front holes pluged

[stanrob]

The sculptor claims he's got a brand new strut coming for me Wed, price $85.

[stanrob]

The sculptor was wrong. It was only a cartridge that came. His supplier wasn't paying attention.
Been here before.
He won't weld on the old one, too rusty.
So now, I'd love a bit more detail about making spacers to adapt the shorter Hatchback struts.

[dlb]

So now, I'd love a bit more detail about making spacers to adapt the shorter Hatchback struts.

i've never done spacers but as simon84 explained it to me, you need to knock the studs out of the strut mount and tack weld 1" longer ones in their place. then you need a 1" tall donut-shaped spacer with holes for the studs to pass through. sit that on top of the mount and that's it. simon84 bought the spacer from canadian tire so i'm sure any US auto parts store will also carry it. barto used cutting boards to make his own spacers.