My high dollar radiator got filled with 50/50 mix today... and immediately peepeed on the floor... first fill although I bought it 10 years ago.. it's never had fluid in it.... PRC custom radiator high $$$$ and I think they are out of business

so I guess I'm searching for a aluminum radiator fixer... probably be cheaper than shipping it back to the mfg (if he was in business)

j

 

Is the tank or core leaking? I am pretty sure PRC is still in business

 

can't tell yet... it's puddling at the bottom of the core on top of the lower tank. I gotta pull the condenser and see what's what... I was out of steam when I found it.

 

What a disappointment....

 

Stay tuned for epistle and included rant.......so... to continue this drama, pulled the fan and condenser and found 4 nice little dings on the front side right where the mounting screws for the condenser were.... really stupid of me... I had plans after initial mount to use shorter screws... that got forgotten. Some time ago I set the radiator to the side while installing stuff behind it and it fell over on the condenser... didn't see any damage so I went right on with my stupid self.

called around and couldn't find a competent radiator shop that would touch it since the hole (s) were in the coil... couldn't solder it. Finally found a place that could fix it with epoxy... promised it would not leak and would hardly be visible. Explained to him this was a high dollar radiator going on a really nice truck where the radiator is in full view. he said "no problem" That should have been my first clue.
\
Jump forward one week and I go to pick it up.. He said it was fixed and ready so I head back to the shop to pick it up. It's sitting just outside the shop managers office. The first thing I see is that it's painted...PAINTED!!!!! Nice shiny silver paint covers my polished aluminum radiator... The foreman heard my expletives through the wall and came running out. "Whats the problem ??"

"It's painted !!!! The $%^*#% thing is painted". his reply "Well yea, we paint all of them before they leave. Well, I'm beside myself and that guy ain't happy either. "Didn't the manager tell you what to do and how this was a polished aluminum radiator ?? "No sir, he said fix the holes with epoxy, I'm sorry"

I turned it around to see the repairs and see three epoxied areas about as big as a pencil eraser and one that looked like they used a paint stick to put it on and it was about 1" x 2" square... more expletives... He says "Yea, that one gave us some trouble". I'm seething, but this guy did what he was told so I contained my wrath. Thanked him and loaded up and went back to the shop owners office. Had a heated discussion about the whole thing and the lack of communications with his foreman and my anger. I promised I'd do what I could to discourage anyone from using his shop (which was about all I could do... too bad I had already paid him)

So about 2 hours of my afternoon was spent with lacquer thinner, rags, gloves and a toothbrush. Got all the tanks cleaned and the mounts but they did a job on them... they need a good working over now...

So...here's the question.. looking at the pictures.. what should I use to clean/polish the aluminum now... and on top of the tank it looks like a patch was added on top of the tank...didn't even see this till I got some of the paint off...

little help please ??? and thanks for listening.

john

 

ouch. your in a bit of a mess here. If i read correctly all the leaks you had repaired were in the tank area and not from the core.. this is good. The bad is they patched it with epoxy, that may be removed during the polishing process effectively opening up he holes again. If it were me I would take it to a competent weld shop and have all the repairs removed and TIG welded up its all metal.

Polishing process is rather simple albeit time consuming just make sure your using lots of clean water and a quality wet/dry sand paper. Start with 220 and move up one step a time to the next finer grade of paper until you get to 2000 grit. Then machine polish with cutting compound and polishing compound with a foam pad and drill like the kind used for restoring head lights. Google how to polish a motorcycle frame and you'll get lots of how to's and resources for a mirror like finish.

Next protect the finish. Do not get any random clear coat it just wont work, theres nothing for the clear coat to bite and stay, but there are a few polished aluminium clear coats available, again Google search for whats current and popular its been ages since I have had to do this.

If you don't clear the polished aluminium it will look good for a few days then go dull and you will rub your digits to a nub with Brasso every weekend.

 

Bummer..

this link seems to echo what has already been said, but adds a buff step..

Polishing Radiator - ChevyTalk - FREE Restoration and Repair Help for your Chevrolet

 

Yea, spent the day (the whole day) working on mine... finally got all the silver paint off, that was a chore... I left it on the core... too much work there. And, the fan and condenser will cover 95 percent of it anyway.

I started wet sanding with 600, then again with 1200 and finally with 2500

Then I took a sewn sisal wheel on my drill and white rouge... that got it shiny'er... then polished with Eagle ! never dull. My arms and shoulders are killing me... I gave out at 4 pm and headed for the tylenol.

I just like the top of the top tank. It's not mirror finish but you can see your face in it... I ran out of steam... I'll finish tomorrow and post a picture

What's a good sealer ?? The Mother's stuff your link mentioned keep it looking good ??

j

 

sadly, I am not aware of any finish that will maintain the shine, without additional work. wheels are a different material, but still need maint..

I had my billet wheels polished and clear coated to reduce the work, and they still look good, but the truck only has 325 no rain miles on it in 10 yrs.

I haven't seen a clearcoat finish on a radiator.

 

probably the heat would affect it on a radiator... somewhere I remember seeing a product that is supposed to help deter the oxidation

 

In the past I have used Zoop Seal on polished aluminum and more recently have sprayed Glisten PC on some polished engine components. The Zoop Seal was rather pricey and the application tedious, the Corvette suspension components that I applied it to have never seen the road but they still look nice sitting on the shelf. The Glisten PC also seems like it has made the parts impervious to oxidation and chemicals. The only drawback to the Glisten PC is that it is a sprayed-on clearcoat and you can see some orange peel in it if you look closely...I guess that I could colorsand and buff it but that is just a little bit too much. For my current project I am trying a new product that is similar to Zoop Seal without the high cost, http://shineseal.com/ I have yet to use it so I can't offer any more in the way of performance data than what is found on their website.
If you decide to clearcoat the tank I would go with the Glisten PC...any good automotive clearcoat would handle the heat but I would be a bit concerned about the thermal expansion of the aluminum causing some crazing as time goes on.

 

Flathead guys use this on heads and intake manifolds

Nyalic® Official Site - Clear Coat Solutions

Works on almost anything.