Classy Comanche

@Pete Mit indeed does. I'll go snap some pictures, give me a few minutes

Now I'm very confused. How full should the metal tank be? Half or full to the ring? Everyone initially was saying full all the way because the thing is is my radiators keep failing. Not my tank. In theory if I have super high pressure wouldn't my aluminum tank would have blow up? It does spit coolant into the tank. That's for sure. My thing is where should I fill it to. Right now it is full. The catch tank is almost empty as of now

Gotcha. I'm doing my rad first then I'm deciding on doing the valve cover after that or do a whole upper engine rebuild/refresh

Yeah I've definitely changed my perspective on selling it. That's for sure. Something I've had a question about is does the 4.0 have like a automatic choke on it? When mine idles it will run smooth and good but then it will idle back down kinda low then go back to normal and it does that if I'm sitting still. I'm trying to decide if it needs a head cover gasket. I have bought a felpro to have just in case. Its not running rough but I didn't know if when it idles down if that is something all 4.0's do or if that's a sign of something

By the way. The rad cap on my mac tank is 16lbs of pressure. What's the factory pressure it needs to be if anyone knows by chance? I considered doing a 14. I ask this because my head gasket is leaking oil. Has been since I bought it. Even smells hot after driving it and walking by it. I almost wonder if exhaust fumes are getting in causing higher pressure

How's the frame? Does it appear to have rust on the rockers/floor pans? It looks rough but has potential. I wonder if the wiring looks half decent?

Yeah I got a plastic tank attached to my aluminum Mac tank. It does push coolant into there and keeps the aluminum one full

Alright. So my Mac tank is full. It has a catch tank. Now I'm rethinking this. These aluminum radiators are just poor quality?

The mechanic is telling me it's just a different way of a conversion that I have now. The rad cap is at the highest point and shouldn't have anything to do with my radiator leaking except poor quality. Now I'm back at square one on what to do. My grandfather is also telling me no don't do it that the metal Mac tank is a pressure tank hence the radiator cap. Now I don't even know if that should be full because my grandfather is telling me it should be about half full or so

I see. Well I have no idea what the specifications are for the bolts. Like if I was to return the radiator from napa today I could very well possibly get everything I need plus the gasket without spending more money and just more or less using the money the rad costed me. And in a way this works out perfectly because those radiator hoses have to come off anyway for the conversion. So when those are out of the way it'll give more ease of access to everything I hope. I wish I knew what the spec was on the bolts. The only thing about this whole thing is cutting that heater control valve off and torqing the bolts down to spec. Last thing I need to do a strip a bolt or not tighten it enough since the back bolt will be kinda hard to get to

Oh I am. I'm going to just stop driving it a bit and just think. Like I said I just feel kinda dumb for sitting here telling people "oh yeah I have a open cooling system" when in reality I don't. So what I am thinking I'm going to do is do exactly what Johnny Cash did. One peice at a time. When I get my car back I'll go to autozone, advance auto and pick the stuff the conversion calls for. The napa radiator I currently have costed my just over $300. I was online looking at parts and the rad I posted above was like 152, the radiator cap with the temp gage was like 40-50 and the hoses were dirt cheap, connectors too. While I'm also out I'll pick up a valve cover gasket since it does leak from the top of the motor on my driver side. I do believe those have rubber but I heard somewhere they had aluminum ones? Are those any good? I had a good sleep last night and have really thought about it and if I can just accumulate the parts overtime it'll get me ready (I think) to get the job done and get my truck right. Are valve conver gaskets hard to change? Is there anything that could go super wrong? Does the bolts have to be torqued to factory spec or do they just have to be "tight"?

I also watched a bleeping jeep video on how to do the conversion. The part where you cut the heater control valve. When it comes to stuff like that I get nervous. However I will say even with the heat off I will occasionally hear a small squeak sound like something moving on my passenger side inside my dash and I can feel heat like blow through very gently.

OK I read the write-up. Maaaan it sounds so complicated yet so simple...the part numbers....didn't exactly line up. But I got a hit on a radiator potentially which I have posted below. I am worried about it hitting something or not being able to go in correctly. So. To my understanding of my....deal. is that I need a radiator that has a cap on it. My Monte carlo has one. Get a pressure cap that has a heat gage on it that tells temp (Absolute lifesaver since I got dummy clusters) and get a overflow tank which I already have as seen hooked to my Mac tank. Now. The hoses. Is there anything that needs to be re-arranged when doing this? I'm getting a sense of hope back here and not feeling like running it into a ditch being hopeless and uninterested. So far everything is clear and like I sort of understand how this stuff works. I essentially am blowing out my own radiator.....wasting my hard earned money. Its just the hoses and bottle I'm unsure on...I've wasted my money so far. I want to ensure this indeed will work

What do I need for a true open set up? Now I'm super super lost on what I need since I thought I had open system this entire time. Man I feel so dumb now

Well the top of my engine is leaking oil. It does leak. So. Wait. Hang on. So where do I get another tank like the oem one? I have mine but it's cracked from being old and usage. Rockauto ones are absolute crap. I now am so clueless and I just...I don't know what to do now. Now I'm nervous to drive it

How's this? So the Mac tank holds my coolant. My coolant gets spit up into the plastic tank as a holder. And it has a clear hose at the top that can puke out coolant if for whatever reason it gets that full

I'll look into some tools soon. What would be some possible causes of the radiator leaking on me? It's not coming from the hoses. It's coming from the radiator itself. Poor quality? Something else? Because my system is open meaning I think the pressure is able to exit via a tube on the top of the catch tank when it cools off (please correct me if I'm wrong). My engine isn't overheating and runs fine. I also can't just keep going through radiators like underwear either

Well the thing of it is my truck is a open system. I have a Mac tank and catch tank he installed. I've had 0 issues from it. The guy that has been working on it is @dasbulliwagenand is a mechanic at the chevy dealership I go to. He works on it there. He's done lots of work to my truck but the radiator is the only thing giving me issues

Alright so the radiator I got off rockauto is the all silver one. The black one I have got from napa and have now waiting to be installed. Now the all aluminum one I have bought 2 of. Both failed. This is why I'm so frustrated. I also have no tools. That may be a shock but I legitimately don't. But the aluminum ones are the ones leaking on me. Those are the only ones I've tried granted. See since my plastic reservoir cracked and split on me 3 times in a row on different ones I am so skeptical of plastic hence my logic of buying all aluminum. Do you guys run the ones like I got from Napa? I do know if I sell the truck I will never ever in my lifetime find another or get it back. I'm just stuck right now

True. Very true. It just seems as soon as I fix a problem another rears it's ugly head. Yea it does have major sentimental value to me but....it's just getting to the point to where it feels like your losing a uphill battle. But I'll try out a handful of stuff to try and get it straightened out for the long run. So for now I'll have the radiator put I'm. Park it and rarely drive it. My Chevy has a 3.8 and it's been a fantastic car. So in the meantime I'll push aside the selling thought. I'm thankful for it and thankful I was able to get my hands on it. Thankful I'm here too. Hopefully this radiator I'm going to have put in is the charm I need

Yeah well my Monte Carlo is in the shop for a whole cooling overhaul. The truck runs good. It runs so so good. My discouragement is my radiator as you may have seen/know. I have now sprung yet another leak in the radiator I have. I have a brand new one sitting at the house but waiting to get my car done first. So now as we speak I'm driving my truck with it leaking even more. I'm nearing the point of posting it up for sale along with all the goodies that comes with it like spare parts, documentation of purchase, part receipts and service records since I've had it and has no rust. I've dumped over $800 in radiators alone. I'm just trying to figure out my situation and have a truck that doesn't leak. All my truck needs is a non leaky rad and new exhaust. That is all it needs. I'm going to try the one I have now when I have it installed. It's such a good truck but it is just causing me stress and making me not want to work on it with how many times my radiator has went bad

Man. Yall know I've been fighting issues with my MJ for a while. Ya'll ever get so discouraged and borderline fed up with it and start toying with the idea of selling it? Have any of you been down this road before and know if it's a good idea or regrettable one? Because that's where I'm currently at. Discouraged and pondering the idea of "the little red wagon" getting a new home

It sure is! And me and him hang out and go to car shows from time to time, works on my truck too. He's the one that got me here

Actually I agree more on the radiator. I'm driving around with a tiny leak as we speak but it does cool very well. I know that engine circulating old rusty coolant it has to be aching for some nice clean coolant. If you pan isn't showing weakness it could wait for now perhaps. But those battery cables look like they may be.....a potential fire hazard? No one wants to see a charred 'manche

He's got a Wagoneer front-end too! It is so cool looking. This is the one that works on my truck when I need somthing done