Deuce Radiator / material

roger-wilco-66 · Mar 28, 2011

I want to fix my radiator because it leaks slightly around the collar of the upper water inlet. Besides that, the welding spots on the right side of that frame around the radiator failed, another thing that needs fixing.
From examining these failed welding spots ("white metal") I would guess the radiator is made of aluminum, but I'm not sure. What is the radiator made of? I need to solder the failed components, but I must be sure of the material.

Thanks,
Mark

gimpyrobb · Mar 28, 2011

The inlet area is brass. I have had the shroud section on a few of mine come loose, I just used rivets to hold it together. They have been fine for 2yrs in one of my radiators.

PropDr · Mar 28, 2011

The white metal you see is lead solder. I would recommend taking it to a radiator shop if you have never repaired one before. It's easy to do more harm than good to a radiator if your not experienced with a torch.

If you do try You will need acid core solder from you local welding shop and a oxy acetylene torch.
Good luck [thumbzup]

steelandcanvas · Mar 28, 2011

PropDr said:
The white metal you see is lead solder. I would recommend taking it to a radiator shop if you have never repaired one before. It's easy to do more harm than good to a radiator if your not experienced with a torch.

If you do try You will need acid core solder from you local welding shop and a oxy acetylene torch.
Good luck

4x4 Forever · Mar 28, 2011

Actually pretty easy to repair.

Hand wire brush the area clean, brush a good amount of flux in the joint, heat the area up with a propane torch and apply acid core solder.

Make sure you do not use an access of heat, just enough to get the solder to flow. The trick is to get the metals just hot enough to flow the solder. Don't heat the solder itself with the torch as you will get a 'cold joint', let the metals melt the solder. Wipe off area and give it a coat of paint and your done.

Good luck!

PropDr · Mar 29, 2011

4x4 Forever said:
Actually pretty easy to repair.

Hand wire brush the area clean, brush a good amount of flux in the joint, heat the area up with a propane torch and apply acid core solder.

Make sure you do not use an access of heat, just enough to get the solder to flow. The trick is to get the metals just hot enough to flow the solder. Don't heat the solder itself with the torch as you will get a 'cold joint', let the metals melt the solder. Wipe off area and give it a coat of paint and your done.

Good luck!

Don't forget to drain it first. You wont get anywhere if it has coolant in it. The tank is a giant heat sink by itself let alone when its filled water/ coolant.

roger-wilco-66 · Mar 29, 2011

Thanks for your comments, guys. I have some soldering and welding experience, so I feel confident enough to tackle the job. I wouldn't try to repair a damaged radiator core though, but the joint of the water pipe seems pretty easy.
This is also a good opportunity to change those old rubber hoses to and from the radiator, so I'll give the whole area a workaround.

Cheers,
Mark

Mrmag1 · Nov 30, 2018

What is the core made of? The heat radiating zig zags look to be brass but the pipes look like steel, they don't look like aluminum but I don't know for sure.

doghead · Nov 30, 2018

brass or copper

Mrmag1 · Nov 30, 2018

Thank you, it looked silver in color tho. The zig zags are definitely copper or brass but the fluid tubing looked silver.

cattlerepairman · Nov 30, 2018

I had a slight leak, took it to the rad shop, they boiled and rodded it out. That's how they discovered more holes/thin areas. Ended up re-coring the rad and fixing the tank area. Money well spent, radiator is as good as new. I'd hate to spend an afternoon brushing and soldering and then have it leak somewhere else a few months later.

Flyingvan911 · Nov 30, 2018

I also has my neighborhood radiator shop fix my deuce’s radiator. It had a slight leak in the top tank. A good radiator shop is a great resource.

Deuce Radiator / material

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