Why yes Sparky you CAN just replace the plastic tank! They are held on with two roll pins. However in a Jyard environment it is easier to just pull the whole assy and buy it rather than separate the tank. Yesterday was the first time I've ever been able to find the entire list of parts on my wish list in just one visit to the Jyard. I came home with coolant o'flow bottle, fuse block mounting bracket, master cylinder & tank, strut tower braces, grille support bracket, washer fluid tank assy (the kind that goes inside the fender well), several feet of vac hose, wire harness and a few things that snuck into the bottom of my tool bucket.
The salvage title likely came from a hit to the front right corner as there are several broken items from this area. I quickly discovered there were s***-rigged solutions that I wasn't comfortable with that needed fixing before I could proceed with the main goal which is to work on the overheating. I even found that the vac line that feeds into the main harness down near the fuse block had been cut and then re-connected to the remains of the washer fluid pump. So that line was letting the manifold suck on the washer pump and the interior (probably HVAC controls?) was without vacuum.
Today I will finally focus on the coolant/overheating issues. I'll flush the cooling system and also do a compression test. I've pulled the Tstat (looks brand new) in prep for the flush. I've got black sludge all over the interior of the radiator. Stay tuned for updates.
