Calling all my old school friends

[JOJABOY]

I ended up pulling the radiator this morning. Used some needle nose pliers and bent the fins back a little where the leak was then took the torch and solder and just patched it that way. It's holding water so far. Took the opportunity and cleaned up the thermostat housing and replace the top and bottom hoses while I was at it.

Couldn't sleep this morning so I went to the garage and just started pulling it apart. Now I'm back to thinking about the over flow. There's got to be something better than the catch can I have hanging there now. LOL

[jocko]

when I was much younger... the old car guy who could fix anything in our neighborhood told me to put a cup of corn meal and some pepper in my radiator to stop a leak. I'm not kidding. I did it, and it worked. However, I am also certain that it mucked things up for later. But it stopped leaking for now. That was ok with me because this old beater was a 57 chev, and it was a breeze to fix it the right way later - at 17, some things didn't get fixed until I could flip enough burgers to make it happen the right way and the interim fix worked like a champ.

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by JOJABOY

I ended up pulling the radiator this morning. Used some needle nose pliers and bent the fins back a little where the leak was then took the torch and solder and just patched it that way. It's holding water so far. Took the opportunity and cleaned up the thermostat housing and replace the top and bottom hoses while I was at it.

Couldn't sleep this morning so I went to the garage and just started pulling it apart. Now I'm back to thinking about the over flow. There's got to be something better than the catch can I have hanging there now. LOL

What you want, is something with a tube on top and bottom so that as the radiator pressure builds, it can overflow into the bottle, and then when it cools, flows back in to the radiator
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[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by JOJABOY

I ended up pulling the radiator this morning. Used some needle nose pliers and bent the fins back a little where the leak was then took the torch and solder and just patched it that way. It's holding water so far. Took the opportunity and cleaned up the thermostat housing and replace the top and bottom hoses while I was at it.

That was exactly what I was going to recommend you do. I've done that to lots of old trucks, tractors, etc...

I used Bars Leaks in my SBC to "fix" a leaky soft plug. Wored great.

Gary

[Tinsmith9]

Sounds like you got it done Gunny. I wasn't gonna get into the soldering repair because I'm not real articulate splainin' things but you likely will get away with doing what you did until you can get a new one. Usually the hardest part of that kind of fix is getting the metal clean enough and then not overheating it while you solder it. Sometimes it'll cause other leaks in the area and you gotta chase them for awhile but if it's not leaking you might have got her done the first time.

Was visiting a fella I went through bootcamp with recently and saw a pic of me and it scared me, so I understand. Clint is the Man.
Dan

[JOJABOY]

Originally Posted by Tinsmith9

Sounds like you got it done Gunny. I wasn't gonna get into the soldering repair because I'm not real articulate splainin' things but you likely will get away with doing what you did until you can get a new one. Usually the hardest part of that kind of fix is getting the metal clean enough and then not overheating it while you solder it. Sometimes it'll cause other leaks in the area and you gotta chase them for awhile but if it's not leaking you might have got her done the first time.

Was visiting a fella I went through bootcamp with recently and saw a pic of me and it scared me, so I understand. Clint is the Man.
Dan

I torched it a little to burn of any gunk then cleaned it good with brake/parts cleaner. I think it will hold well enough till summer when I pull the motor and replace the tranny.

Wow...bootcamp was so long ago. Every time I see old photos I realize just what 20 years will do to a man. I was 20 when I joined and still not shaving. LOL

Mister-B....why do you say tube on top? I was thinking just a vented cap would work. Was looking at at a bottle from a 1st Gen S-10.

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by JOJABOY

I torched it a little to burn of any gunk then cleaned it good with brake/parts cleaner. I think it will hold well enough till summer when I pull the motor and replace the tranny.

Wow...bootcamp was so long ago. Every time I see old photos I realize just what 20 years will do to a man. I was 20 when I joined and still not shaving. LOL

Mister-B....why do you say tube on top? I was thinking just a vented cap would work. Was looking at at a bottle from a 1st Gen S-10.
Attachment 1092214

I suppose if it's vented, and has the hose on the bottom, that should work just the same. Not sure, but I would imagine its doing more then just collecting runoff from the radiator? I assume fluid goes back and forth to and from the radiator to the bottle, and not just one way to the bottle?
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[JOJABOY]

Right. Radiator cap has valves/seals. One for coolant exiting due to over heating and the inner valve is the vacuum so when the engine cools it pulls the coolant back into the rad.

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by Mister-B

I'm man enough to admit I'm wrong if need be, but that sure seems peculiar. You're sure? Part of me hopes you're right, because I've got a leak I've been nursing along, and this would sure be an easy solution, but I'm just very hesitant
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Cross my heart and hope to die. i was building a rock buggy when i was working at avalanche engineering. it had a 5.7 LS1 crate engine. i had to do some whack and chop on the t-stat housing and one of those little pellets fell out. i was convinced some assbandit at the assembly plant was trying to make me have a bad day when i couldnt get the thing to run cool and i tossed it in the garbage. we were in the process of ordering another engine for a different buggy and asked the dude we bought from what he thought. he was curious and called GM and got the scoop for us. i can imagine what the radiator guys think of it, but in my experience, they are all quacks so they deserve a little trouble. again, i have run bars leak in my own vehicles that i do my own work on and i dont have any issues using it again.
Ryan

[jd7]

Just pull the radiator out and take it to a radiator shop the repair should be around $ 65.00 or so.

[68corvair]

You can get stop leak pellets at g.m. dealer. They recomend it for most of thier vehicles. Works great,causes no harm.

Ed

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

Cross my heart and hope to die. i was building a rock buggy when i was working at avalanche engineering. it had a 5.7 LS1 crate engine. i had to do some whack and chop on the t-stat housing and one of those little pellets fell out. i was convinced some assbandit at the assembly plant was trying to make me have a bad day when i couldnt get the thing to run cool and i tossed it in the garbage. we were in the process of ordering another engine for a different buggy and asked the dude we bought from what he thought. he was curious and called GM and got the scoop for us. i can imagine what the radiator guys think of it, but in my experience, they are all quacks so they deserve a little trouble. again, i have run bars leak in my own vehicles that i do my own work on and i dont have any issues using it again.
Ryan

Ok, well thanks. I suppose I stand corrected
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[flashed]

If you were here in Ga I would fix you up cheap with a new radiator I have sitting in my shop in the box .It was for a Chevelle but I compared it to the one from my 72 truck and they are the same .

[JOJABOY]

Originally Posted by flashed

If you were here in Ga I would fix you up cheap with a new radiator I have sitting in my shop in the box .It was for a Chevelle but I compared it to the one from my 72 truck and they are the same .

You don't know how bad I wish I was home. I grew up off Toonigh Rd in Holly Springs area. Need to get home to visit my folks. Don't think ol' red would make it there though. LOL

[flashed]

We were in your old neighborhood yesterday on our way back home ,still a few old cars and trucks around there too .

[JOJABOY]

I miss the leisurely drives on the back roads there. Nothing is leisurely about Southern California. Great weather though!