cruiser
Well-Known Member
Hi Guys: Cruiser here with a new feature I'm starting for the FABO faithful, which I'm calling Bob's Component Resto. If you're like me, I like a little light reading before I go to bed, and stuff like the helps me relax and fall asleep. So if you're into component resto like me, here's my first installment - the radiator. This evening we look at the resto of the radiator for my 1974 slant six Gold Duster. In this series, I'll show before resto photos, after resto photos, and finally installed photos. So to begin, let's start with what came with the car when I bought it in April of 2019. It was a crappy, aftermarket generic radiator, and it had NO COOLANT in it, probably the third or fourth radiator in the car. The dude who was driving it didn't know diddly about cars. Thank goodness for the indestructible slant six that could still run with a minimal amount of coolant. I'm all about correct restorations, and so began my quest to find and install the right one for the Duster. The factory parts manual said that the right radiator for my car was part number 3692973. I went to my favorite salvage yard (Rohner's Auto Salvage in Willmar, MN), where there is still an excellent selection of untouched A bodies. There, I found two of these surprisingly hard to find cores. The first one had accident damage to the lower tank (see photos). The second one had a good lower tank, but the wrong part number in the upper tank. I bought them both for $50.00, knowing that I had enough to build one complete and correct unit. I brought the whole mess to one of the few remaining old school radiator shops, Tom's Radiator Repair in Anoka, MN. Tom hit the whole thing with his torch, melting the lead solder and disassembled it. He then took the usable brass upper and lower tanks, the transmission cooler from the second unit, the two side brackets from the undamaged core, and built me a complete correct radiator with a new high efficiency two row copper core. He cleaned up and re-used the original brass drain **** and the brass transmission cooler line fittings, then painted the whole thing in the correct 80% black. The photos show the parts before and after assembly, the finished radiator, the radiator installed in my engine compartment, and a shot of the car that it went into. I frosted that cupcake with a NOS coolant recovery system radiator cap, part number 3673891 - a one year only item for my car. I also removed the original overflow tank, cleaned it out, bead blasted and painted the mounting bracket (two grey primer coats and three Krylon Satin Black finish coats), then reinstalled it using the original ribbed overflow tank hose and the correct Keystone crimp clamps. The whole thing works GREAT, especially with the new Stant 195 degree thermostat that I installed. Never gets over 195 degrees even on the hottest days. I have to tell you this baby just purrs at highway speeds, and the 225 motor LOVES the clean, yummy 50% Prestone II coolant mix running around inside her. Gotta love those old school copper and brass radiators - they cool beautifully and last forever when properly maintained. So that's it for Part 1. I hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for further installments and sleep tight. Good night!
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