With technology and people’s experience, what should I do in regard to my radiator? Restore it, modify it( larger core?), replace it? Looking for advice. Thank you gents Michael
That radiator looks a little beyond the repair but an experienced shop may work the miracle. My local (Australian) radiator shop still had radiators listed for my truck so I went with a recore. Tony
The radiator on my 39 flowed good but wasn't cooling. I had a new core with as many fins and rows I could get put in using the original tanks. Rick's radiator in Azusa, CA did it when I lived in Ca. Very reasonable.
The cooling problems went away. I also cleaned the block at the same time.
If the tanks are good it can be re-cored. I had that done to my ”˜37. My radiator guy recommended we go to a slightly denser core (more fines and tubes) but nothing extreme.
To be truthful it cools about the same as before. I was not having any overheating problems and do not now. If I try to convince myself it is better I can maybe say that it takes a little longer to get above 180 at a light and maybe only goes to 185. With the old radiator I would see 190 at a light on a 90 degree day. With either radiator just speeding the engine up a little with the hand throttle knocks the temp back down below 180.
It to get too far ahead of myself but painting the radiator won’t effect it’s cooling correct. I assumed they paint them at the factory prior to delivery
I know my questions are basic and fundamental but it reveals how much I really know about working on cars, but I am teachable and failure is not an option
There is special radiator paint. Do some Google searching about this before you just grab any can of semi-gloss black.
At a minimum “radiator” paint is a very thin paint. You only want a thin coat on the tanks so they transfer heat better. Most important you wan to minimize the paint thickness on the face of the cores. If you use paint like regular Rustoleum you can actually close up the holes in the core.
Let the radiator shop paint it while cleaning and pressure testing it.
These are actually the concerns I had but wasn’t sure how sensitive the radiators were to the type and thickness of paint. Time to surf the web for paint
Beware that prices for cores have skyrocketed. For example, the honeycomb radiator cores are only being made in the UK now and they cost $3000 plus shipping!
I'm having the radiator of my '27 truck re-cored now. B & M Radiator in Fremont was recommended to me by another VCCA member and so I'm having them do the work.
Cheers, Dean
Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz old and ugly is beautiful!
[quote=solafide]These are actually the concerns I had but wasn’t sure how sensitive the radiators were to the type and thickness of paint. Time to surf the web for paint [/quote
Thank you PK for the paint tip and all you gents for the like gold advice. I prefer to learn from others if I can avoid some mistakes that could be costly
I spoke to two shops $400-500 and up to $900. Crazy prices. The shop PK mentioned recommended I do nothing if the radiator is not leaking. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Tough call
I strongly recommend that you at least have it cleaned, pressure tested, and painted. That will give you a little more confidence when you get going again.
If you found a shop that would re-core that radiator for $400-$500 you found a deal. Mine cost over $700.
I’ll drop it off at radiator shop and have them check it and give me an estimate. The radiator might be fine, who knows. One gent mentioned flushing or cleaning engine, how would one accomplish this task with radiator removed?
Here's what I did to flush Lurch's 1928 engine when I rebuilt it.
I started when the head, water pump, and thermostat housing were apart so I could vacuum out the junk from water passages that go between the head and block. I also did a lot of scraping and poking around with screwdrivers and a coat hanger wire to loosen rust from the inside walls of the water jackets. I did not 'flush' it at this point.
The highest concentration of the rust blockages were around the rear of the block and head. These areas would've been impossible to access with the head bolted onto the block.
I flushed it when the head, thermostat housing, and water pump were bolted back together and the engine was sitting in the truck.
For the flushing, I left the thermostat out. Then, I hooked up a garden hose to the thermostat housing and a drain hose to the bottom of the water pump.
Turned on the house water full blast and ran it for a while. Then, I reversed the hose locations and re-flushed.
For both flushings, I had an old white t-shirt around the exit of the drain hose. I wanted to capture and see what came out. I was surprised how much rusty debris came out after all the vacuuming that I did.
Hope this helps, Dean
Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz old and ugly is beautiful!
I have a collection of various adapters so I can flush the engine with water flow from different directions. I used them when I flushed the engine on my ”˜37 after it had been sitting at least 10 years.
I did have the water pump removed. That really gives a lot of access to dig at crud at least on the front portion of the block. I made a plate out of plywood that bolted to the pump mounting face. The plate has a hole it it for a bulk head fitting. Through a series of fittings I can connect that to a garden hose and push water into that opening. It will come out the block drain and the head outlet. Obviously you have to remove the thermostat when doing this.
I also have adapters to push water in through the thermostat housing as well as in through the rear block drain.
My experience was similar to Dean’s. I got a lot of crud out of the block. I am glad it did it because I do not have overheating issues.
Thank you gents for the engine flushing suggestions. I’ve decided to stop taking things apart foe preventative maintenance as I will soon have a basket case. The engine probably has many miles on it so a rebuild is probably in the neat future so I will enjoy her for now until the engine goes then have everything done thoroughly.
I understand your desire to get things back together and going. I was the same way when I got my '37. All I wanted to do was get it drivable. I finally had to accept that if I did not fix things properly before I got it on the road I would only be creating bigger future problems.
Overheating the engine will definitely change your timeline for a rebuild. And you can only hope that you do not crack the head or block.
If it were me and I had it in an area where I could make a mess, I would remove the two side frost plugs, the one at the front and the water pump. I would then go in the openings with a pressure washer. I think you could remove a lot that way.
My 1951 1 Ton is now on the road! My 38 Master 4 Door is also now on the road .
FYI, I just picked up Lurch's re-cored radiator (3 row copper, new configuration) from B&M Radiator in Fremont, CA. Total price was $717. I'm happy with that.
Dean
Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz old and ugly is beautiful!
I found a NOS Harrison radiator p/n: 3109032 for $508 delivered. It turned out that the radiator I removed from my 38 is actually for a 37 Chevy passenger car. What a blessing. I dreaded the process of repairing the radiator only to discover it was the wrong part anyway according to the referenced site above. Any corrections are welcome Thank you Michael
While the Harrison listing is helpful, the Master Parts List shows even more parts numbers for ”˜38 vehicles. That number is in the MPL for the ”˜38 Master and Master Deluxe.
What number was the radiator you removed from your car?
I recommend that you have the NOS radiator cleaned and pressure tested. You do not know the storage environment nor how it was handled as it was probably moved from one location to another. My guess is that whatever covered the openings has long ago disintegrated.
