VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions 1930 Chev Radiator & Heater Core repair

Hello,
Talked to my local radiator shop said repair of original radiator and heater core could be tricky. Is this the best way to go or am I going to have to do something different? Most likely bottom seam and core damage to maybe straight water freezing at one time? Thanks

If there are old fellas in the radiator shop you can probably trust their advise. Look them in the eye and ask "What would you do if this was your radiator?" If they shuffle their right foot on the floor a couple of times do what they say. If they don't look you straight in the eye or the corners of their mouth twitch up a bit take your radiator somewhere else.

Nice, We do not have many to choose from close by

My recent experience with radiator repair was not very satisfying. Due to his workload it took a long time (4 months) and cost as much as a new reproduction radiator. Plus the recored radiator was 1/4” taller which really made it a struggle to install.

I chose to go that repair route because initially the shop claimed he would have to fixed in less time for less money with a more efficient core than the original. I liked the idea of keeping the original Harrison upper and lower tanks, inlet and outlet, plus mounting brackets.

Chipper is correct that a lot depends upon your confidence in the expertise of the shop.

If the core is "rotten". then a new core will be required. Fixing leaks may require cutting off or eleminating some flues. Same thing if the flues are stopped up and won't withstand boiling and rodding. The rodding process may open new leaks.

If the core is is fairly sound then it may be boiled. rodded and major leaks fixed. It will serve even if a few flues must be eleminated. After it has been boiled and rodded and then large leaks repaired the small ones may be sufficiently seael up using Solder Seal.. The SS will work better in clean flues.

I would have the radiator man examine and perform a low pressure test of the core. Afterwards, If he thinks it will stand boiling and rodding then go for it. If after his examination and testing he shakes his head then have him install a new core using your old tanks.

Someone may have a NOS Harrison core or radiator. Try the "Wanted " forum and eBay and see what happens.

Good luck,

Charlie

BTW: If the core is a true honeycomb type design sith zig-zay flues then it can't be rodded. I don't know whether the 1930 ones were this type honeycomb or not.

Yes sit seems to be, trying to get it out, to have it tested

luckily we have 2 local old school shops. i took in my 29 radiator they flushed it and pressure tested it, did a flow test, then cleaned it up and painted black for me. of course i removed the assembly from the car, pretty easy then took just the core.

There are options. If you’re not showing in OEM type shows, there are modern replacement cores with modern construction available. They aren’t cheap but cheap isn’t always better in the long run. The original cores are honey comb type and cannot be rodded to clean them. They are a series of tubes soldered together and trying to remove a bad tank will unsolder the core. It’s tricky work working with the original cores. On difficult to find radiators, like my 32’ Olds, it was flushed with Evaporust then checked with 8 lbs pressure. We found 8 small leaks in the tanks due to fatigue of the die formed brass and carefully they were soldered up. It cost me $300 to fix and check it. The alternative was to make a new one by removing the tanks, fixing all the cracks in the tanks first, buying a new honeycomb core ($4000), and soldering everything back together. Estimated cost was $6-6,500! Luckily I found an original from a hot rod project for $250 plus the $300 repair work for a total of $550. When a brand new radiator from Brassworks for your Chevy is $1,100, it doesn’t sound bad at all when you think about it.

Thanks,
I have it at the the radiator shop, He had a pile of old tractor radiators he was working on so it looked pretty promising. New 1100 I did see be nice to keep it around 300 I will let everyone know how it turns out.

$394 only complaint he painted it Black!!! It will be the only new paint on it. Next question Heater core I was going to take apart but then I thought why? I wont be driving in the cold not does it have defrost. though about just hooking it up and shutting off the valves. It looks like it had an older after market switch with old wiring I was surprised to see that the power wire came from the gas gauge which really pulls power off the ignition ? when you hook up it pegs the gas gauge.

When I install heaters, though it's not OEM, I install a modern 6v relay. I wire in the coil of the relay to the ignition on (load) side of the switch so it pulls in every time the ignition is on. The then pull the heater motor feed from the main feed from the battery to the headlight switch. The load side of the relay goes to the heater switch that then goes to the heater fan motor. The old ignition switches were not designed for any load over the distributor that is why the heaters were shown wired directly to the battery feed. Using the ignition powered relay always assures you that when you shut down the ignition, the heater is off also. You can also put other things on the load side of the relay to power other things if so needed without it increasing the amperage load on the ignition switch. They do not look under the dash when judging and you can say the relay is for safety to protect the wiring from overload.

Sounds like it's hooked up to the sender side of the gas gauge instead of the power feed side of the gauge. The fan motor is acting as a ground pinning the gauge. It was hooked up to the gauge terminal so the heater fan is only powered when the ignition is on. See my other post about the ignition switches and how to remove the amperage load from their fragile contacts.