Ol John Lee Gets a Radiator

[Sharps40]

Its not a super big leak, just an order of magnitude larger and faster than the weeping I had before. Fortunatly, I'd installed a $15 overflow tank. What is on the floor is the quart or so that was in the catch tank and it was enough to ensure getting home with out overheating and breaking down on the side of the road. $15 and 20 minutes work well spent. But, everything is still pretty darn wet after an overnight sit.

The floor of the garage, I guess I'll replace the radiator this week, I suspect this moderate leake is going to turn into a flood in a ride or two.





As you can see from the crust, the top tank has been weeping for quite a while now. Hard to believe I can still get a replacement radiator from the local parts house and under $200 on the 4th of July sale too. All brass like the original and I suspect it'll work just fine as a replacement.



Lower tank and core starting to let go now too.



First time it ever slung fluids up over the motor and firewall though...musta be a pretty good leak when the engine is at operating temp.



Even the cross member is a bit wet with some fluid accumulated in the low spots....

[Sharps40]

Not too bad a job. Managed to replace the radiator, leak free so far and fix up a few places with missing bolts too.

As Bigten suggested, pull a hose, add a hose, start the motor and let it fast idle till clear and flushed.



I was suprised, takes more than a few minutes to flush it clear.



Once I was satisfied with the flush, I secured the keys and yanked the battery out. Battery is in the way of some shroud bolts anyway and its nice to know it won't start while I'm messin around the fan.

Here I've got the fan shroud back (only 3 of 6 required bolts were installed) and getting the fan and pully out of the way so I can clean it all up and get the new radiator in w/o gouging it on the fan blades.



Everything but the radiator is out and I'm dumping the parts in my majic coffee can...majic cause I put all the parts in it and still manage to loose at least one.



This is all that holds the radiator in...top bracket. Fortunatly the upper rubber pads are soft, plyable and in good condition. I'll reuse them....takeing them off the top tank is a careful job cause they're often stuck. These were only a little stuck and came off with no issues.


[hr]
Heres the pair, original Harrison on the right. A couple differences in the new radiator, drain plug is on the right and it has an auto trans cooler inside. That may come in handy in a year or so.



I installed the plugs with a bit of high temp pipe dope to keep a seal. From experience, don't overtorque these fittings in brass tanks, the brass threads are tender and strip easily.



At this point, I sprayed out all the mud dauber nests and set the lower rubber bumpers back in place, time for a test fit of the new radiator.



Woops, trans cooler fitting is in the way of the driverside bottom radiator mount. I could clamp it down but want it centered properly. So a quick mod to the bracket is called for.



Pull out the rad and the rubber and grind off a bit of clearance in the bracket...



Now I have the room I need to center the radiator and to install those future auto trans cooler lines.



And the top bracket lines up too.


[hr]
Reinstalling the top clamp. A bit of greese to keep the threads from rusting up if I ever want to pull the rad out again...prolly in a year or so for an engine overhaul but hopefully not before. Waterpump seems good. It flows plenty of water has no slop in the shaft and no leaks I can see so, I left it alone. If it goes out, a Brassworks Flowcooler goes in to replace it. Thermostat is working fine to, so, no call to unbutton the engine at this time.



I took the time to scrub and inspect the composite plastic fan shroud. Fortunatly its in great shape with no cracks or breaks. This is a $250 part and I'm glad not to have to purchase a new one. Looked in the junk yards already, they are all missing from the trucks! Must be a popular part. But it only had three of six sheetmetal tapping screws holding it in place so I drilled out the old threads in the brackets and prepped it for 6 new 1/4" screws with washers and nuts.





Properly bolted down, top to bottom on both the left and right sides.

[Sharps40]

All back together with water only for now. Running at a fast idle (love haveing a throttle cable on a vehicle again!) for over 30 minutes. The engine bay is drying up and I can't find any leaks. I do need a bit longer length of overflow tank hose. The outlet at the top tank is opposite where the orginal was (forward instead of back) and since it was cut to length for a back outlet, its almost a squeek short but dooable for now.



We went for two different 30 minute rides with a complete cool down between and I watched the cold/hot lights and the overflow tank level constantly...no issues, no leaks. I suspect I'll run it a few days on water only and then drain and refill again with coolant and some waterpump lube. It needs heater hoses (rad hoses are in fine shape/not needing replacement) so I'll change them after another flush and call the job done.

[1963c-10]

Great job, and nice work on the pics.

[mechanic58]

Nice pictures - I am actually getting ready to buy that same radiator for my '63. They're made by Spectra, the P/N is CU284 and Rockauto.com has them for about $190. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

[Sharps40]

Picked mine up from Advance Auto on sale. Belive it was about 180ish with a 20% mail order discount and received a $50 coupon for additional purchases.

[Snydcat]

Originally Posted by mechanic58

Nice pictures - I am actually getting ready to buy that same radiator for my '63. They're made by Spectra, the P/N is CU284 and Rockauto.com has them for about $190. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

I just received my Spectra CU284 radiator today and it looks nothing like the one that is installed above....and it's plastic..i'm sending it back

[Sharps40]

Mine is from advance....when the V8 64 above got mashed by unlicensed alien bungholes, I transferred it to the I6 65 and detailed that installation in a separate thread covering the switch from small i6 radiator to large v8 radiator.

I never use rock auto, they never send ya what ya think yer getting. Try advance auto....go to the desk and make sure the rad is brass 3 core...or order it in and if you don't like it I think you can return it to the counter...verify that last bit but I'm pretty sure its right..

[Snydcat]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Mine is from advance....when the V8 64 above got mashed by unlicensed alien bungholes, I transferred it to the I6 65 and detailed that installation in a separate thread covering the switch from small i6 radiator to large v8 radiator.

I never use rock auto, they never send ya what ya think yer getting. Try advance auto....go to the desk and make sure the rad is brass 3 core...or order it in and if you don't like it I think you can return it to the counter...verify that last bit but I'm pretty sure its right..

Just got back from picking the one up from Advanced Auto and it's the one I should have gotten to begin with

[Sharps40]

I hope it brings years of trouble free service, fits like a glove, performs like a $5000 a Night Call Girl and looks better in yer truck than the lap dancer did last time you were really really really drunk at the Pole Dancers Convention.