Guess I should give a little update as I have neglected to do so lately.
On the 6th, I started to replace the heater core in my Dakota. It was partially clogged with rusty water back when I first got the truck 4 years ago (spring 2015). The heat barely worked, but I got it in the spring, so it didn't really matter. Then, to attempt to fix a coolant leak, my dad and I decided to try a bottle of block sealer. Well, that failed and completely clogged up the heater core and required us to get a new radiator
Lesson learned there. That winter, I drove the truck to school wearing a jacket to stay warm. I blew up the engine the next summer (2016). I finally got the truck back on the road in January of 2018, but bypassed the heater core because it was still clogged.
Over a year later, I finally took the time to replace it. Only took me around 10 or so hours over 3 days to do everything, but I got it done with plenty of time to spare before driving the truck to Milledgeville on the 14th.
Before I left, I decided to put a new radio in Frankentruck. All went well until I messed something up with the wiring. I'll hopefully be able to fix that over Labor Day weekend when I go home again. I'll get some pictures then of what I ended up doing.
On the way down to Milledgeville, I stopped to pick up a new core support for Frankentruck that is less rusty and has some good parts that I ironically already purchased for Frankentruck. That's more of a long term thing to deal with, but once I figure out what I'm going to use and what I'm going to sell, I'll place some parts up for sale.
Once I got to Milledgeville and unloaded all my stuff, I found out that the passenger floor pan of the Dakota had turned into a swimming pool
Chrysler in their infinite wisdom designed the evaporator core drain to exit the firewall straight out. So after the 24 year old foam seal was disrupted by replacing the heater core, all the water decided to exit the drain, stay stuck to the outer part of the drain, and get blown back to the seal from the wind. With not a great seal, all the water poured down between the firewall and the carpet creating a gross puddle of annoyingness and sadness. I did not realize this, but apparently it has happened a tiny amount before I replaced the heater core. Disrupting the seal apparently made it much, much worse. To fix this factory flaw, I used a molded rubber heater hose with a 90* bend to point the drain downwards. I'm pretty certain this solved my problem, but probably won't be 100% certain until the next trip back home.
Since I've been back in Milledgeville, I've been hanging out with friends and setting up the new house. There won't be much truck stuff going on, but I'll probably still be active on the board. Also, can't have a Milledgeville trip without going to Sunset Fields
Sorry for the long post, but a lot has happened since I last posted on this thread
