Radiator woes

[Chris Haynes]

I took my poor old radiator to the highly recommended Radiator Works in Northridge, CA. He noticed some butchery on the mounting tabs. So now I am looking for a usable bottom strap. Anybody holding? :-)
Also the cap won't go on. The lip of the shell around the filler neck of it stops the cap from reaching far down enough to lock in. Any thought on that?
TIA,
Chris

[Quigley1930]

What year?

[SteveB31]

Their are numerous different bottom straps. Need a phot please.

Steve @ Bert's

[Chris Haynes]

1930 Tudor. I'll go to the shop and get a picture tomorrow.

[Jacksonlll]

On the cap fit, either your shell is not seating low enough around the top tank, or your neck is too short. A shop should be able to put on a new neck, and they are available. PROBLEM MAY JUST BE CAUSED BY THE LOWER BRACKETS BEING IN THE WRONG POSITION.

[Chris Haynes]

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Originally Posted by SteveB31

Their are numerous different bottom straps. Need a phot please.

Steve @ Bert's

Steve,
Here it is.

[Mike V. Florida]

Remember that the original bottom strap from when the A was new was riveted on.

[duke36]

Sometimes fussing with older radiators isn't worth it, by which radiator shell doesn't fit , hood doesn't align properly and issues Chris mentioned. Many new radiators from the known reputable vendors (if one can afford them) are purported to fit very well.

[Dennis Pereira]

Chris how often are you in Pine Grove? I have a couple of 30s radiators that hold water.

[darrylkmc]

Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

Remember that the original bottom strap from when the A was new was riveted on.

Plus, each rivet is soldered from the inside of the lower tank, l just did my '30 radiator bottom tank a few days ago.

Darryl in Fairbanks

[jax55]

Cap fit? Mine fit fine until I got the radiator recored, then I could hardly get the grill shell on. The filler neck seems to be further back than it was.
I ended up grinding a little off the cap to clear the shell lip, works fine and no leaks.
Not a recommended fix, but time and distance were too great for a return visit to the radiator shop.

[Chris Haynes]

Originally Posted by Dennis Pereira

Chris how often are you in Pine Grove? I have a couple of 30s radiators that hold water.

I spend about one week a month there.

[darrylkmc]

Originally Posted by jax55

Cap fit? Mine fit fine until I got the radiator recored, then I could hardly get the grill shell on. The filler neck seems to be further back than it was.
I ended up grinding a little off the cap to clear the shell lip, works fine and no leaks.
Not a recommended fix, but time and distance were too great for a return visit to the radiator shop.

It sounds to me like your radiator guy mis-located the side straps when he resoldered them to the top tank, the straps contain the Shell mounting tabs. Not a difficult task to cure, but time consuming.

Darryl in Fairbanks

[Chris Haynes]

Originally Posted by darrylkmc

It sounds to me like your radiator guy mis-located the side straps when he resoldered them to the top tank, the straps contain the Shell mounting tabs. Not a difficult task to cure, but time consuming.

Darryl in Fairbanks

My radiator guy hasn't touched it yet.

[darrylkmc]

Attached are some photos of original 1930-31 Radiator Straps, this is actually a welded assembly. The bottom strap being attached to the sides at the mounting tabs.

With the bottom tank riveted to lower strap and the sides welded to it, the assembly is straight forward. However the top of the side straps must be properly set when reattached to the Top Tank, l scribe my tank before disassembly. This is the critical dimension for getting the orientation of the shell correct, including the filler cap.

I will post some photos shortly of an original unadulterated top tank attachments.

If it is an original radiator it will have a Indented Fins on the face of the core.

Darryl in Fairbanks

[darrylkmc]

Here is a photo of a top tank attachment that l did last week, l need to get better pics of an original to post.

You almost can't go wrong aligning the side straps with the face of the core, but filler cap alignment needs to be checked before final soldering.

I will post more photos later today.

Darryl in Fairbanks

[mike657894]

look inside your neck for bending. the hood quails are held in by metal tabs that tighten with bolts and could have deformed the inner neck if some one used one of those
.

[darrylkmc]

Attached are some photos of Top tank Side strap attachment of an original radiator and pics of one l soldered together last week

You almost can't go wrong aligning the side straps with the face of the core, but filler cap alignment needs to be checked before final soldering.

Darryl in Fairbanks

[darrylkmc]

Originally Posted by Chris Haynes

I took my poor old radiator to the highly recommended Radiator Works in Northridge, CA. He noticed some butchery on the mounting tabs. So now I am looking for a usable bottom strap. Anybody holding? :-)
Also the cap won't go on. The lip of the shell around the filler neck of it stops the cap from reaching far down enough to lock in. Any thought on that?
TIA,
Chris

Chris,

It appears from your photo that your bottom strap is mostly intact, a bit hard to tell without seeing a bottom view. If the tabs are flat to your frame and the holes fit the span it should be OK.

The biggest problems l see both involve the lower tank, not certain if it will solve your alignment issues alone however.

First, it looks like there is solder between the strap and the tank, this is a common attempt to stop leaking rivets.

Second, the fins are pushed up where someone tried to solder the tubes to the header.

When l work on these radiators, l solve both problems after removing the lower tank.

The Rivets need to be removed and replaced, examine the tank for cracks, if OK, re-rivet the strap to the tank completely dry, no solder or goo. I get brass rivets at my local hardware store.

I also solder the core Header from the inside, so as not to disturb the fins. The headers appears to have been originally dipped in solder, so everything should already tinned. There is no harm in soldering from the outside also.

This is how most alignment issues start, removing the lower tank involves taking the side straps off the top tank, reattaching at the proper location is critical.

A test fit with the shell and cap is worth the effort to assure proper fit, l know this from personal experience. I aligned my last one with the face of the Core, forgot to test the fit until after l saw this thread and l already had it soldered up, but my scribe marks did match. Cap fits perfectly.

By the way, l built my radiator out of 3 originals, employing the core that came with my '30 Canadian Standard Phaeton. So don't lose hope.

Hope this helps.

Darryl in Fairbanks

Attached photo is of Chris' radiator

[darrylkmc]

Sometimes the problem with the fit of the Cap is because the filler neck has been hit or dropped, thus bending the top tank.

Many of the older style galvanized funnels for filling the gas tank also have lower tabs that can be pulled up and set to fit the radiator filler neck. I have pulled necks up enough for clearance and handy for getting your quail level.

Darryl in Fairbanks