SO.... To fix it, I had to take it apart. And it just made me sick to do it.
Since the car is one of a kind and unusual to begin with, this is what had to be done. I can't just unbolt 4 bolts for the radiator and a couple of hoses and lift it out. First, all the painted joints and nearby painted surfaces had to be masked off for protection. Then the headlights, bucket assemblies, gaskets, trim rings, and wiring etc. had to come off. Then the bumper, turn signal bodies, wiring and grill. The overflow bottle. brackets, hoses and horn were next. Obviously, drain the system and remove the upper and lower hoses. The fan and shroud, which by now I can do blindfolded followed. To get the space necessary to remove the radiator the body nose piece has to come off. That requires going through the fenders via the head light openings to get at the bolts. The hood latch, attached at the core support, rock shield and on the the nose piece were next. All the trim around the grill opening had to be removed to access the lower brackets for nose piece. And looking at the pictures, all of this is painted surfaces and in a couple of places gasket-ed. The stealth ram air scoops below the bumper had to be dropped down and suspended. The brackets for the AC radiator had to go and carefully move it out of the way without disconnecting the lines. Same with the power steering fluid radiator. Then pull the left side of the radiator out, forward first. Remember, the I drilled the core support for the inlet and outlet tubes to pass through the core support.. Then lean the radiator forward, clearing the outlet tube, swivel the left side and rotate that end up to clearing the outlet tube while watching the right side of the AC radiator, then forward to pull the inlet tube free. Could not forget to pull the fan controller rheostat and probe. and what do I do I drop it! Supposedly fragile. We'll find out on the restart. SIMPLE! Working with care it took 10 hours!
Then I started looking for an answer for the radiator. Repair or replace? Local, regional or national?
The local shops said they could not repair an aluminum radiator. Most said it couldn't be done period! One said they would "plug" it. I found a nearby regional shop which said they "MIGHT" be able to fix it; with their work backlog, in six (6) months! Same with a custom replacement.
I had met a guy at one of the cruises who had a custom radiator and four (4) fan shroud made in western New York. I scrambled around on the internet and found them about three pages in on GOOGLE. Called them. They thought they could fix it. So I decided to roll the dice. Shop was three plus (3) hours from me so I asked if I could bring it up. They said yes so we set up a day. Drove the 180 + miles thinking I would drop it off, they would do their thing and ship it back. They said wait it will only take an hour or so, $30.00 bucks. Located in the boonies, SW of Buffalo, it is a small company shop, 5-7 men. Nice web site, 8-9 radiators were done and being prepped for shipment, looked beautiful. Lots of stock ready for build. The owner did the work! He had worked at Harrison Radiator, a division of GM , until they closed. Engineer, manager, factory worker? Don't know. Didn't press.
At the end he was kind of pissed, complaining it took too long, something of an attitude,missing phone calls. I almost expressed regret for the time and told him I had expected to leave it and have it shipped home. He tested it with air pressure and said it was OK. Thankful, I left. Took another 10 hours to reinstall and road test.
It FAILED in the same place!!!!!!!!! AND, the fan would not start unless I jiggled the controller rheostat knob! Guess I broke it when I dropped it. I called NY to them to tell them and ask about what they would need for a quote on a new build. I guess I made a MISTAKE when I said I would be seeking quotes from other companies. They NEVER BOTHERED with a quote and never responded to several calls I made.
Obviously, I had to tear down the nose of the car, AGAIN!!!! Then start researching custom radiator companies. What I found is that many call themselves custom, but build only for Chevy, Ford, Camaro, Mustang etc. Several looked promising but were in Oregon and Idaho. Could see the shipping costs from there. Almost all say give us your specs via their web site and they will come back with a quote. Yea right! Don't even bother to ask questions as they don't read anything other than the numbers you provide. Good luck getting a knowledgeable person on the phone. I'll get blasted for this...TOO DAMN BAD... a number of companies use women for their phones or on-line, take your specs, probably using CAD for design...... They don't know common terminology, part names, etc. Then they spit out a price.
I did find several good sites. Ron Davis Racing, Saldana Racing, Coolcraft, C&R Racing, and c,g&j. (They use the lower case! Not a typo.) Ron D. provided the most information voluntarily, probably the best site; and Saldana was very close. As a reader you might think I used them to get information. We were talking about what I had, what failed and how to correct the issues I saw and what they felt might be flaws. Maybe I did, maybe not. I was trying to gain knowledge to prevent another disaster. RD was was expensive at $$$$. Griffin was slightly lower at $$$$. Saldana was quite reasonable at $$$ but long lead time, build time and slow to respond to phone and email. Based on their quotes, I used the information gained and went with c,g&j. They are a custom builder AND repair located in Gadsden, Ala. They seem to specialize in industrial, marine, mining, custom and local radiator shop work,
They were the MOST REASONABLE. Their lead time was one (1) month and they hit it. What they seem to lack is detail in proper paperwork, invoices and updates on times, shipping dates, tracking numbers etc. They made a major mistake with the auxiliary pressure feed tank. After a phone call, I got a call back, an apology and the properly fabricated tank by the time I had the new radiator installed.
The position of the auxiliary tank does allow it to back fill the radiator if the fluid level drops and check the fluid level. The main fill hole for the radiator is a 1/2" plug on the top of the right tank top.
The row of screws at the top edge are for the rubber shroud seal I described earlier.
It's all put together and everything is double checked. I started and ran it in the garage. Not going to chance a failure or leak on the road. Ran it until it came up to temperature. The fan would not start and the rheostat controller would not function the way it used to. Got a hold of Summit Racing and ordered another one. Had it in one day and installed it in an hour. I also cleaned up a tangle of wires for the relay, rheostat and fan. Made them look more presentable. Fired up the car and let run to warm up. As soon as it got to 195 F I started resetting the rheostat. It worked as it should! WOOO!
No more scheduled car shows or cruises this fall and the weather has turned crappy.
A regional restaurant, QUAKER STEAK and LUBE near us has a cruise every Sunday. No prizes, raffles, no 50/50s. Just music, show your car and dine if you so desire. Usually 125+ cars or more. Last time for the season was 9/30/18. The weather turned nice, mid 70's, eight (8) miles one way. We were goin'! First thing I noticed was that the temperature gauge always hit 210 F within a mile of leaving home. We went nearly three (3) miles before it hit 210 and it did not move at a couple of stops and traffic lights! Came up to 210 quickly on the way home but was partially warm to begin with. Just stayed at 210! Not the 90s stuck in stop and go but very encouraging. AND no leaks, no spotting on the windshield. The next morning I checked the auxiliary tank and had to put in a few ounces to refresh it. Still no leaks, spots on the floor or any of the fittings, pipes or tubes. Maybe the weather will get back to average or an Indian summer break but for now it is parked for the season.
By my less than scientific knowledge the new radiator is nine (9%) percent more efficient. By changing the design there three (3) double rows of 1/2" tubes which are wet now and part of the airflow/heat exchange. The air space has been eliminated inside the radiator. That should greatly reduce the chance of boiling inside the radiator. The 1/2" restriction in the outlet pipe and hose should steady the flow and reduce turbulence. It may also reduce or eliminate aeration.
We'll see next summer. Chomping at the bit!
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