Replace cooling system - home job?

Heya,
so my trusty Celica cracked a heater hose the other day. I couldn't see where the leak was coming from so took it to the mechanic. He fixed it and pressure tested and it was all good.
He told me that all the hoses on the car are originals (ie 21 years old!) and all look like they are about to fall apart. He also reckons the radiator is starting to go (slight brown tinge to the black). All up the repairs are likely to be well over a grand ($8-900 for a radiator, a heap of hoses and all the labour).
So, I'm wondering if I can say stuff it and do it myself.
I have lotsa tools, have done plenty of other things to my car (normal oil and radiator service, spark plugs, etc.). I've seen radiators on ebay for under $300 for example this one. I figure I can get a set of hoses from one of the auto shops (or online), and the rest should be easy.

Anyone done this? Any thoughts? Does it seem odd that the mechanic says a radiator is $800, but I can find them for under $300 online? Anyone recommend a place to buy all the hoses from?

cheers,
Chris

Sweet, ill do a hunt around for ya OD. Metro Auto Spares up here in Dev is the place that has everything.

What year/model do you have?
Is it the ST184 in you sig?

If it runs a 3S then it will share a lot of parts with the SV21 Camrys

haha bought my radiator for like 200 ebay... fitted time half day with some bourbons

Just IMO, I would steer clear of the aluminium radiators, you will not get the life out of them that you did out of the original copper one.

My daughter had a Mazda Astina, and went through 3 aluminium ones in 3 years, then got a copper one and it lasted for ages.

If you dont intend keeping the car more than 12 months, then grab the cheaper aluminium, but if it is your pride and joy than spend the extra dollars and get a copper one.

recoil's right and it's not too hard a job, make sure you've got an area of concrete that you don't care about staining, and a bucket of hot water to soak the hose ends in, makes it heaps easier to get them on.

Cheers guys.

No Recoil, it's a manual 1989 ST184 with the 2.2L 5sFE engine.

Dazza, the mechanic told me the current radiator was some sort of material that was plastic/metal and therefore couldn't be recored (like my old Datsun). I'm guessing the cheap ones on ebay are all aluminium. I'll pop into Super-Cheap and see what they have. Wonder if I can find one on a Celica that's been wrecked but with ok radiator. At this stage though - the hoses are more critical I think.

Chris

is your mechanic a retired removalist from you last place of residence OD?
ask if he has your old xbox stuff!!

haha, nah he's a pretty cool guy.
I think I get what he meant now - plastic tank, metal radiator.
Just found a copper/plastic one for $380 from radiator world.

Chris (OD)

wouldnt worry about the radiator to much till it springs a leak TBH, they all go a lil off colour but proberly be fine for years, if anything a good flush and replace with anti-freeze, the brown is more likely from the engine block than rad

just replace all the hoses first, few hose clamp's, toyota ones you'll need a pair of grips and just slide em back, if it has jubilee clips just unscrew em and slide down

piece of piss mate, the amount of toyota ive wrecked or rebuilt jeesus

Thanks mate. I'll look into doing all the hoses. The big ones are easy enough - more concerned about finding ones that are under the engine or otherwise hard to find.

cya,
Chris