Hi Jack,
You will have to take the apron off alright. It's not as bad as it sounds as
quite a few of the bolts just snap when you go to undo them - if you have a set
of vice grips well clamped on the nut's cage to prevent the nut from rotating.
The two bolts that hold the sides of the rad near the bottom are difficult to
access. I believe the heads are 9/16". If you can get a wrench on them you can
only turn them a tiny amount before you run out of space, so I put my wrench's
closed end in a vice and bent the wrench perhaps 25 degrees; this allowed much
more of a turn before having to relocate the wrench on the bolt head.
Randall mentioned the steering box; I would suggest checking out the idler arm
while you're in there too. If you are considering an anti-roll bar this would
also be much easier to do while the apron is off.
And since you're in there anyway, think about taking off the timing chain cover
and replacing the seal that goes around the crankshaft; they do wear out and it
would be cheap preventive maintenance. Of course once the cover is off you can
check out the condition of the timing chain and tensioner, and the gears. If
you are remove the cam gear, it might be a good time to slide out the cam
itself to check the lobes. You would have to pull the head off to lift the
tappets but hat's not too hard, especially with the apron out of the way.
Plus, then you will get to see the condition of your valves and deal with them
if they need anything - exhaust seats, for example.
I would set aside at least two hours.....
Best regards,
Jim Wallace
TS81417L
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Hi folks, Time to go to the well again...I need to get my radiator
re-cored. I assume there is no way to do this without taking off the front
apron. Any tips, tricks or gotcha's in this undertaking? Is there a way to
do it so as to just tilt it up so as there is enough clearance to get it out
without disconnecting the wires for the lights? (My Lucus phobia) I also
noted that the fan is wobbling a little, the bolts are tight, and need to
replace the rubber bushings and sleeves. What else should I do while the
radiator and fan is out?
Thanks in advance,
Jack 59 TR3
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