Radiator Picked Up & Put In

Well, I think I'm kinda impressed with Burbank Radiator, only cost be $150 to have them rod out the tubes, re-solder the tanks and put a new overflow tube on it. They sprayed a little fresh paint on it and pointed out how the original radiators have the year stamped on the tank. Hadn't noticed that before! I got a new 7lb cap from CPR and I'll be leaving the recovery bottle off.

Bolting the unit back in place was easy. I used a new piece of heater hose to connect the bottom of the radiator to the heater return. Hoses and fan shroud all in back in place. Filled with 3-1/2 gallons of Prestone and voila! No leaks. Good as new and cheap too. Doesn't get any better than that.

Radiator Drop-off

Dropped the radiator off at Burbank Radiator this morning. I was expecting the guy to just write up a re-core for me. But instead, he showed me how this type of radiator is constructed and advised me that it would be better if he rebuilt it with the existing core if it was still sound. He would just rod it out and resolder it, then pressure test it. He will also replace the overflow tube. I had said I wanted to have the tube modified to use a recovery tank but he said this is not advised for this type of radiator. He says it's a low-pressure design and using a closed system tank will cause the upper radiator tank to swell and the solder seams to stress beyond the design limits.

So I went Googling for some more information and I found a link to the H.A.M.B. that pretty much explained what the Rad shop guy was telling me. The older un-reinforced tanks are designed for low pressure... 7 pounds or so. The tank's inlet and cap have to be designed for recovery and that generally means a higher pressure cap if you want recovery to work properly. Otherwise it will not really pull the coolant back in and you're kinda wasting your time, not to mention stressing the system needlessly.

So, score one point for the Radiator Man... His name is Steve and he seems AOK to me so far.

Radiator Removal

Drained the cooling system... again. This car gets it's coolant changed every 50 feet. Man, I don't recall where this rad cap came from but it looks super cheesy so I ordered a new one from CPP.

SKU: C850795R
Product: Cap, Radiator, RC1, 1951-56 All exc AC
Quantity: 1
Unitprice: $11.50
Total For Item(s): $11.50

Subtotal: $11.50
Shipping: Not Include in Price
Total Tax: $0.83
Total Cost: $12.33 + shipping

The three bolts on each side of the radiator proved to be fun. The driver's side especially, since there is very little room with the battery and the new power steering pump. 

Started Up...

...And found the radiator is leaking, either from the cap or the overflow tube... not good! Well I've been thinking I needed to get the rad redone anyway. It's original and while it wasn't leaking before, it looked dicey.

I checked my local web pages (Google) and found a link to this place in Burbank that has good feedback.

Will check them out next week. Maybe I'll pull the radiator tomorrow. Not feeling it today.