Don Marshall wrote:
>
> At 04:51 PM 12/2/00 -0500, James A. Ruffner wrote:
> >
> >Take it to a radiator shop, and have it cleaned, rodded, and resoldered. You
> >could never do the correct work yourself. Besides, although I don't know
> what it
> >would cost today, the last one I had done, cost $42, and it looked and
> worked like
> >new.
>
> I had a TR6 radiator rodded out last month for about $37.00. Pretty
> reasonable for what you get...
I agree with the general wisdom that having a radiator shop clean out
the radiator is both economical and efficient. I will pass on, though,
this experience. I had three radiators available and only one running
GT6, so I picked the best of the bunch, took it down to the shop and
told them to boil it out and let me know if it flowed well enough for
general use. They called me a day later and said it was partially
plugged and would have to be rodded out (for those not familiar with
that term, it simply means that one header tank is desoldered and
removed, and the obstructions are broken loose with a long, skinny rod,
the radiator cleaned again and the header tank soldered on again).
When they tried to resolder the header, however, the tubes were so thin
and rotten that they said it was impossible to resolder the header. It
would have to be epoxied. I doubted this would work, because of heat
expansion, but let them do it, because they guaranteed it would seal. It
didn't and began to weep after three days or so.
I'm not sure if I have any firm recommendations based on this, except
that if epoxying is said to be the only way to secure the header to the
tubes, I would pass on that procedure and start looking for another shop
or another radiator. Simply, if the radiator's shot, it's shot, and the
only other cure is to have it recored. If there is any doubt as to the
integrity of the tubes, I would suggest that the radiator not be rodded
out, but rather boiled, cleaned and repainted only. If it won't cool,
it's probably time for another one, either new, or one in better shape.
It's impossible to determine the condition of the inside of the tubes
from looking at the outside, but there are indications. If there's a lot
of dirt (and possibly salt) packed in at the bottom of the tubes, it's
possible the tubes are corroding from the outside in and the inside out.
If the radiator has more or less been subject recently to a more than
one or two pinhole leaks, that's another indication that the tubes are
on the way out.
Cheers, all.
--
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM
[mailto: mporter@zianet.com]
`70 GT6+ (being refurbished, slowly)
`71 GT6 Mk. III (organ donor)
`72 GT6 Mk. III (daily driver)
`64 TR4 (awaiting intensive care)
`80 TR7 (3.8 liter Buick-powered)
|