I have a local shop that can do the job, but being a cheapskate and having a plumber for a dad, I can probably do it myself. The question is, should I? A good flushing, brake-clean and some good flux doesn't seem like it should be too hard.
*yes it is a brass radiator.
I am not sure if I reccomend it, But I did it once in a pinch, with electrical solder no less and it still holds. Id imagine plumbing type and liberal flux would be superior, and fine. The hard part with brass might be avoiding reflowing any other local solder joints that may exist creating a new leak.
Hopefully someone with legit experince can chime in.
I just did a minor repair to a radiator. There was a small leak at the top of the tank where it was soldered to the lower part of the top tank. I cleaned it and applied heat and then solder. It's not leaking any more but it was an easy place to make such a repair. I'd use an acid flux as I think you'd get better results then with paste flux.
Hey GRM, let’s play a game called “Spot the Leak”
I don’t know why it let go, it did not overheat. Gonna try my hand at radiator repair tonight. Apparently my dad has done this before and is pretty confident.
In reply to Nugi :
Yeh go for it. I’ve done a few radiators and even one recoring successfully. I’ll admit the recoring really pushed my skills
That looks to be a the best place it could have let go.
Clean it up really well and it should work.
Don't use brake cleaner it can be deadly when heat is applied to it. Use acetone.
My old boss was just showing my the radiator the re-soldered in his 15yo's new Polara. Looks really good and holds pressure. I'm sure he's fixed many radiators this way.
In reply to pilotbraden :
Noted. I’ll probably end up using a wire wheel and sand paper/ emery cloth.
Didnt get to it tonight as my sister was in town and we went to dinner. Tomorrow though.
Wire brush yes, emery paper no. Enough emery stays behind to interfere. Old Ford radiators all fail that way according to my best local radiator repair shop. "Local" is 35 miles away and I am in a very densely populated area.
Uncle Tony shows you how to fix a crack in the tank: Uncle Tony's Garage Radiator Hack
BTW if you guys haven't found Uncle Tony on YouTube yet you owe yourself a visit. Once you get past his delivery the guy is a true fountain of knowledge. I've learned countless things from watching while laughing.
Its not pretty, but it holds pressure. Now to put it back in the car.
Yeah I don't see a problem with it. Whats the worst that can happen? It still leaks?
Nice work. I have had a radiator pierced with a small stick. I pinched the tube with needle nose pliers at the break. I rolled it 180 degrees on each side of the break. I heated it with a propane torch. When I thought it was hot enough I picked up a 3/8 oz. jig by the hook end with the pliers and melted it in the hole. When it cooled down I put a good size dollop o JB Weld on it. The next day I drove it 150 miles home. I had it fixed when I got home. I consider myself to be pretty darn lucky on that one. I now keep solder and flux at my cabin. And an unopened JB Weld. I'll look for the photos. It was in the days of the 35mm film camera.
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