Radiator

[Barry Wolk]

I noticed a leak in the radiator of my '33 Continental. I've done a little research and have found a similar diamond patterns available, but in reading up on the subject I'm finding people saying that the prices are all over the place.

1. Should I have it recored with modern material? What should I expect to pay?

2. Should I have it recored with a diamond pattern core? It's only visible once the hood's been opened.

Any down side to the cooling capacity with either material?

If I do have it recored, what's the best place to have it done?

Since the "Continental" cars were boutique cars they shared common parts with many of the hundreds of other car assemblers of the period. Does anyone recognize this as a common radiator?

Is there any hope of finding a NOS core or complete radiator, or am I dreaming?

The core is 15 3/4" x 18 1/2" x 2"

[Guest Silverghost]

Barry:

Exactly where is your radiator leaking ?

Is it deep within the core ; or on the outside edge at a solder joint ?

Put it in a tub of water and put 1-2 Lbs only of air pressure on the radiator after plugging all the outlets to see the actual leak area.

These wet leak spots on the core often make the leaks look worse than they actually really are !

If on the outside edge it can easily be soldered~~~

If inside the center area of the core itself that single diamond section where the leak is located can be plug soldered from both sides and you could hardly see the solder plugs~~

This should be a fairly easy fix.

I would take this radiator to a good old-time radiator shop that also does large truck and heavy equipment radiators~~~

We have such a shop here in Philadelphia.

Depending on where the actual leak is It could possibly be very easily repairable !

As far as the re-core material~~~

I would not use a modern style core as it just does not look correct for such a fine auto~~~~

Some of the older Diamond honeycomb, and V-cell cores are very costly indeed !

You will have a heart attack when you hear the prices !

You also have few choices of where to find the core~~~

Most old style cores must be custom built~~~at very high CUSTOM prices $$$ !

There is now an outfit here in the USA that now makes diamond, honeycomb, V-cell and older style custom cores~~~

Before this shop opened here in the USA you had to have the core custom built in the UK at verry high costs.

A friend paid $ 10,000 to have a USA Springfield Rolls~Royce Silver Ghost radiator re-cored in the UK !

I will look-up the name of this new rebuilder here in the USA ~

Try to save your old core if you can !

Good Luck !

Edited December 25, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

I agree with Brad 100%! The tubes in that radiator will be of far better tubing than anything now on the market and should be repaired. The trick will be to find a "real" radiator shop where they still do the kind of work needed to be performed. Seems all any of them want to do is re-core or replace entirely.

I have come to believe they all keep a tank full of water only to convince folks to do it their way by over pressuring the radiator and making the leaks look worse than they really may be. Not exactly being in the radiator repair business in my book.

Jim

[Dave Henderson]

Sacreligious perhaps, but consider trying a good leakstop first if the leak isn't too bad. It goes in new cars as a precautionary measure when they come off the line, I am told. I had fabulous results with Bars Leaks brand over the years. I drove a '59 Peugeot 403 with wet sleeve cylinders and cracks between the valve seats and the plug holes in its hemi head, and it would work for a long time, over many miles. Then, when symptoms of coolant in the oil would appear (Peugeot must have known of the propensity of those heads to crack, they equipped the car with not only an oil pressure gauge, but also one warning of too low viscosity!), I just "doped" it again and changed the oil. Granted, this was a disposable commuter, but it just kept on going until the tin worm got it.

[Guest Silverghost]

"Real " auto radiator repair is almost a dead art as most auto radiators buit in the last 20 years are not really repairable !

This is why I suggested a Truck and Heavy Equipment Radiator shop. The one I use does all the heavy equipment & tractor trailers in the area~~ I saw a train locomotive radiator in this shop once !

I have had success myself with using a fine tipped high wattage electronics soldering iron and low temp rosin core electronics solder.

The key here is to find the leak & to get it as hospital clean as possible with a small micro file .

You can then "tin" the area around the leak and solder the hole inside the diamond core itself. It takes time~~~But it can be successfully done !

Many of these leak-stop products do in fact work very well indeed ! I like the product that comes in powder form~~~

It's made by Solder Seal & called "The worlds best radiator stop leak" !

I don't think the cooling system you have on your 33 Continental is pressurized is it ?

The non-pressurized systems are easy to repair with a good auto store leak-stop product !

Edited December 25, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[Barry Wolk]

It appears that there was a prior repair in this area, but nothing comes from the sealed cells.

Papaw, that would be great if you could get me that number.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

[Guest De Soto Frank]

Barry,

I'm not fond of stop-leaks, but I had a pesky internal leak in a block crack on my Model A, and I found a product called "K-Seal" that has worked really well. Haven't lost a drop of coolant in over two months / 1,000 miles driving.

Comes in a blue bottle with an orange cap.

If your radiator has a "weeper" or "seeper", K-Seal may do the trick. If it's a stream, then you might need solder.

The type of core you have is known as "cellular", although many folks generically refer to all cellular radiators as "honey-comb"... true "honey-comb" radiators have six-sided cells.

These cores were built-up out of sheets of stamped brass, and each face was dipped in a tray of molten solder to seal the core.

Good luck with it... Chrysler Corp was one of the last companies to abandon cellular radiators, using them on the six-cylinder cars through about 1948-50.

[Larry Schramm]

Barry,

Sent PM.

[trimacar]

Be very, very careful with radiator shops. They're used to new cores, and without proper instruction from you (and if they listen) they can make mistakes.

My 31 Pierce original radiator was fine, but had it off doing some work on the car, so thought I'd have it cleaned out. The radiator shop put 7 pounds pressure on it and found leaks (it had never leaked under normal operation). In trying to "fix" the leaks, they ruined the core. Called me up and said that the radiator I brought them was no good.....and so the story went.

Make sure they understand non-pressure system.

[Dave Henderson]

Trimacar is so right, be cautious selecting a radiator shop. I took a duPont radiator to one to have it pressure tested for a potential buyer. It was carelessly inserted into the tank and began receiving rough handling. I cautioned the technician and he was more careful afterwards. He apparently didn't care if it got a bit bent up cosmetically,, but of course I didn't want that to happen. If you do take it to a shop try to be there while it is being worked on. ile it is being worked on.

[Guest festanley]

Barry,

Check with Jerry at Universal Carnegie Manufacturing in Pittsburgh. He makes some cores and can source others.

Universal Carnegie

Alan

[CarlLaFong]

Google "Honeycomb radiator" There are a number of suppliers and repair guys

[tbirdman]

Google "Honeycomb radiator" There are a number of suppliers and repair guys

In my research I found that cores are supplied from UK or New Zealand. The Brasswork quote me $1800-$2200 fro my 32 Packard which means it would be more likely $3K. I went with a modern core for quite a bit less as I'm more interested in driving then showing.

If I ever sell it the new owner can put in a honeycomb core.

[Guest elmo39]

barry try antiqueradiator.com , i,m not sure but i think you will find there honeycomb cores still come from either the UK or NZ. Rex