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Rusted Radiator outlet

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:31 pm
by abcarswell
What started out as a simple cracked hose replacement now looks more serious. I know my TT sat for several years before I acquired it last February. Based on the corrosion I’m seeing in the flanges, it appears that it may have sat with raw water or weak antifreeze. I will flush the engine with CLR but am now concerned that I won’t get the radiator hose to reseal on the bottom. Any thoughts?

Re: Rusted Radiator outlet

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:40 pm
by Peter, Memphis TN
It appears from the pictures that you might be able to get a decent seal with a hose. I'd start by clipping away the ragged parts, making sure you have at least 1/2" of good metal all around. If you do, you can probably use a slightly longer than usual piece of hose, and seal it with Permatex or something like it before clamping it. Don't screw the clamps too tight - let the Permatex do the work.

Best of luck!

Re: Rusted Radiator outlet

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:42 pm
by KeithG
Find a junk T radiator with a good outlet and have a radiator shop put it on your radiator. And for that rusty tube, replace it with a bronze one and it'll never rust. The vendors have them.

Keith

Re: Rusted Radiator outlet

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:44 pm
by Henry K. Lee
You could clean very well with a small wire wheel on a cordless drill inside and out, bring it down to bare metal if possible. Find some very small wall thickness metal tubing that will fit inside or just use some small flashing forming it round. Clean the outside of the tubing, clean with acetone all surfaces, then use regular JB Weld. It might take a few times to build up the outside surface, but it will work for now.

Hope this helps, All the Best,

Hank

Re: Rusted Radiator outlet

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:49 pm
by John kuehn
I think brassworks makes a replacement lower radiator outlet. Before I finally bought a new Bergs radiator for my 24 Coupe I repaired the lower outlet with JB weld that was in similar shape as yours. The outlet has to be thourghly cleaned. It lasted for a couple of years or so. If your careful you can reform the bent piece on yours and the use the JB weld. It’s a patch job but it will work. Using a thin piece of tubing on the inside will help.

Re: Rusted Radiator outlet

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:22 pm
by Norman Kling
Before you spend much on replacement of the fitting, try other methods posted above to seal it. Try it out and see how the radiator cools the truck. With a radiator that old, there could be corrosion between the cooling fins and the tubes which cannot be fixed. The idea is to spend as little as you can get by with until you are certain this radiator will work. Then you can use the money saved to replace with a new radiator.
Norm

Re: Rusted Radiator outlet

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 10:46 pm
by Scott_Conger
Some good advice above

here is an '11 radiator which had been dismantled 40 years ago, rodded out, reassembled (with this neck!!) and put on display in a museum. It cools just fine and I just put this car on the road.

one picture is how it was found and the other is after wirebrushing and Ospho, but before painting.

Following paint cure, the top hose was installed with Ultra Black and a slight squeeze with a modern hose clamp. After full cure, the hose clamp was tweeked just a little tighter. Bottom outlet was the same, and treated the same way. The entire assembly is entirely drip-free. There is no reason to expect you'll not have the same results.
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Re: Rusted Radiator outlet

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 11:54 pm
by Allan
There is no better way to fix the problem than to replace the outlet with a new brass casting. This can be done without even removing the bottom tank. However, I would have the bottom tank removed and a very gentle rodding to make sure the core tubes are clear. That way the outlet an even be riveted as was done in the factory.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

Re: Rusted Radiator outlet

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:31 am
by John kuehn
Norman K has the right idea. Been there and done that. Use the methods posted to repair the outlet as it is. It should last long enough to run your T long and far enough to see if the radiator still will cool. If it cools and doesn’t leak that’s good.
Old original radiators that ‘look’ good can fool you.
I spent to much time with 2 original radiators trying to repair them and going to swap meets looking for a good used one.
I bought a new Bergs and it was amazing to drive my T with a radiator that didn’t have a slight leak and really cooled. There really is a difference. Should have bought one earlier and saved my time and money.

Re: Rusted Radiator outlet

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 2:03 pm
by abcarswell
Good ideas from all. Thanks. I’ll try to get it cleaned up and sealed. The little bit I have had it out on the road did not highlight any major cooling issues although probably did not give it a proper stress test yet. This little episode just show the pitfalls of tackling a minor project whilst involved in a larger task. I’m in the middle of body and fender work and I thought I’d change the hoses out while waiting for filler to set up. Now I have two relatively major projects. Oh well, it had to be done sometime.