pulling radiator on my 35

kevinshea

kevinshea

Senior Member
After numerous efforts to rid the cooling system of build up, I am still experiencing overheating at idle AND I have crud build up sitting in the tank top some likely blocking flow. I removed one piece that was about a 1/4" round and noticed many other small pieces.

Does anyone have a video of the removal?

Does anyone know what a good radiator shop will do and at what cost? I will be contacting a shop in Sanford Maine who do work on vintage radiators.

I will plan on pulling the water pumps and replacing them with some from Haney. and when removed, try flushing and rodding out the block. Any suggestions on what to do? also, I will be looking for a pair of 59AB water pumps to send to Haney to reduce the time to get back on the road.

Other thoughts and suggestions?
 
My experience from 10 years ago, *** Radiator in Chelsea Maine, is the shops don't want of remove the tanks to rod out the radiator. When they solder the tanks back on, they're continually chasing leaks. Hours spent add up quickly and before you know it, you exceed the cost of a new one. The Sanford shop may be different.

Note in this ad about 32 to 36 pump impellers used for rebuilds. I have Skip's pumps on my 59A. They are excellent.

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Kevin, a good radiator shop will perform a boil-out, a leak test, and a flow test. If indicated, they will remove the top and bottom tanks and do a rod- out. The rod-out will clear all tubes of obstructions, during which it is not uncommon that one or more leaks will occur which may require the sealing up of that tube. Replacement of the tanks, thorough cleaning of the exterior and minor straightening of the cooling fins. a final leak test, and a light coat of flat black paint. Importantly, you need to instruct them to NOT paint it. At home, YOU carefully straighten all horizontal fins, a time consuming task in itself, and apply a very thin single coat of rattlecan flat black paint. The end result will be a fresh radiator for a couple hundred dollars. Note that it is you, not them, that removes and re-installs the radiator. Their time is money, and your time is your hobby.
 
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ford38v8 said:
Kevin, a good radiator shop will perform a boil-out, a leak test, and a flow test. If indicated, they will remove the top and bottom tanks and do a rod- out. The rod-out will clear all tubes of obstructions, during which it is not uncommon that one or more leaks will occur which may require the sealing up of that tube. Replacement of the tanks, thorough cleaning of the exterior and minor straightening of the cooling fins. a final leak test, and a light coat of flat black paint. Importantly, you need to instruct them to NOT paint it. At home, YOU carefully straighten all horizontal fins, a time consuming task in itself, and apply a very thin single coat of rattlecan flat black paint. The end result will be a fresh radiator for a couple hundred dollars.
Click to expand...
Solid advice.
 
There used to be so many good radiator shops around and then they just disappeared, probably because of the throwaway aluminum radiators in newer cars. I worked at the phone company garage, and we had one guy that did all of our radiators that was really good. If there were signs of corrosion coming through the outside of the tubes, he didn't mess with them he replaced the cores. If not, then he pulled the top tanks and cleaned the tubes. I had him build a couple '32 radiators using the original tanks. The phone company had close to 400 vehicles and stocked extra radiators, so the vehicles were not out of serve if we needed to change them. He eventually retired and then we had a hell of a time finding somebody that could fix radiators, at that was over 25-years-ago. At one point we were having to buy new aftermarket radiators because there was nobody around anymore to repair them. It just gets harder and harder to work on old cars as the parts and old timers vanish.
 
Kevin,…..Sanford Radiator is now in Waterboro, just up the road from me. He did a re-core and some repairs on another rad for me over the last couple years. His name is Tony.
1061 West Rd. Waterboro……207-247-6250……..Mark
 
Hi Kevin, Paul here, if you think the crud is loose maybe you could wet dry vac most of it out. I have had good luck making an adaptor for my hose that is flexible enough to get into tight places. its a bit of work to get that rad out. by the way i have a real close friend living in sanford, he helped me a lot restoring my 35.
 
Thanks guys. Mark, I have spoken with Tony and am good to go with him... he said he would do the step by step as suggested by Alan above.. depending on the condition, he may continue with tank removal, saying that they remove the bottom tank since dealing with the top tank is a PITA... we talked about the lower hose and he said that they could change the angle to make it easier to install. (anyone ever here if that)

And yuh, I've been putting this off since as Paul said it's a pain to remove.. but now think it is a necessary. I did see a video of some guys doing it and as I recall it took them 90 minutes. (can't find it now)... If I take the rad out I will also pull the pumps and force flush the bottom of the block.. Not sure I want to remove the heads as Pete suggested.

Anybody in Maine have a source that might have a 35 radiator.. just in case?

EDIT: found it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmBP_ve3v7k&t=554s
 
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Just took my 37 woodie rad to him , great guy to work with.If you need any help im close by and dont mind helping. Did the removal twice so i know it all too well. lol
 
MaineFord... I could use the help - thank you . otherwise its ask my wife!!! I am trying to set things up so that I don't waste time.. When I bring it to Tony it might be 2 weeks give or take, then when I get it, I want to have the water pumps already in or ready. I just took a look at each of the bolts needing removal to get the grill out.. looks like a couple of easy ones and a couple of tight fit ones. .. suggesting 4 hands. I was hoping to get to Ogunquit/Wells for the woodie meet up, but with the overheating at low speed the parade is out.
 
Ross.. I flushed with Thermacure and No_Rosion.. but still have dirty coolant in the drain and crap in the tank.
 
Flush it again if there's still crud, because you obviously haven't gotten it all, but what you're doing seems to be producing results.. Try Rust-911 (like Evaporust, only a much cheaper concentrate) for one cycle, but be sure to leave it in for more than a day.
 
I have a 59A-B as a stationary engine that sat for a long time. When I got it freed up I used Rust911 with these pipes to circulate the mixture. I put some socks I made out of screen to catch the scale……..you can borrow them if you want Kevin…….Mark
 

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FlatFord8, looks like a very nice setup you built. Have any pictures of them attached to a Motor ?
Stretch
 
I had my tubes rodded out in my '46 about 6 months ago. I don't know if he removed the top or bottom tank. Cost $250. So about 2 hours work.
 
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