RADIATOR AND RADIATOR SUPPORT

Good news; I had several original 1967 radiators in stock.  Bad news; all of them required restoration.  So I chose the best one and began the cleaning and refinishing process.

The first step is to make sure the radiator does not leak.  We do this by pressurizing it.  If it has a leak, it will manifest itself at this point.  Fortunately, mine passed the pressure test.

Next, I removed the finish from the top, bottom and sides of the radiator.  Be very careful with the cooling fins surrounding the core tubes.  Aside from being very easy to distort, they will cut you.  There were only a few bent fins and I straightened them with a small screwdriver.  If the core itself requires refinishing, a special coating is available for that.  The finish on this one only required cleaning.

After the tank was stripped, I applied two coats of black, high temp semi-gloss paint.  

The radiator support I chose from stock was in excellent condition.  Nevertheless, I sandblasted it first.  Next self-etching primer and two coats of the same semi-gloss paint was applied.  Now, we are ready to install the radiator and more good news...it looks better than one you buy, and it is original.

The archive listing of this blog contains detailed step-by-step photos and narratives regarding this restoration since it began late last December.  Please direct any comments and questions to tommystoplesscars@yahoo.com.

Later...

Tom McCurry 

Materials and equipment purchased from:

Moss Motors (mossmotors.com)

Victoria British (victoriabritish.com)

Eastwood (eastwood.com)

The Roadster Factory (the-roadster-factory.com)

English Parts (englishparts.com)

Napa Auto Parts (napaonline.com)

Apple Hydraulics (applehydraulics.com)

Coker Tire (cokertire.com)

START-UP PROCEDURE

My friend John Lacombe came by the shop today to help me adjust the intake and exhaust valves prior to start-up.  They had been adjusted when the engine was rebuilt but I chose to check them.  They were a bit off.  It's a good thing I double checked.  A valve that doesn't seat properly can malfunction.  After we start the engine and bring it up to temperature, the head will need to be re-torqued and the valves re-adjusted.

John is a race car builder and driver.  He holds several titles.  It is so nice to have access to his talents.  However, the first thing he did was make fun of my fuel filter...picky, picky, picky.  He advised me to use aircraft fuel filters with replaceable filter cartridges; a much better design.  I will still use the filter I bought from Napa between the fuel tank and fuel pump.  

The archive listing of this blog contains detailed step-by-step photos and narratives regarding this restoration since it began late last December.  Please direct any comments and questions to tommystoplesscars@yahoo.com.

Y'all come back now...

Tom McCurry 

Materials and equipment purchased from:

Moss Motors (mossmotors.com)

Victoria British (victoriabritish.com)

Eastwood (eastwood.com)

The Roadster Factory (the-roadster-factory.com)

English Parts (englishparts.com)

Napa Auto Parts (napaonline.com)

Apple Hydraulics (applehydraulics.com)

Coker Tire (cokertire.com)

WEBER 45 DCOE CARBURETOR INSTALLED

Fitting this Weber carburetor was a bit difficult because all I had was the carburetor and manifold.  It was necessary to fabricate all the linkage.  

I bought the accelerator cable from a local bicycle shop.  It's the same material, only less expensive.

You will notice the fuel filter installation in the photo above.  It is a generic filter from Napa Auto Parts, cheap and effective.  I also plan to install one between the fuel tank and the fuel pump.

It appears that it will be necessary to purchase another air filter assembly.  The filter I had in stock was a bit large and did not have the proper clearance between it and the wheel house.  Here we go again...buying parts.

The archive listing of this blog contains detailed step-by-step photos and narratives regarding this restoration since it began late last December.  Please direct any comments and questions to tommystoplesscars@yahoo.com.

Later...

Tom McCurry 

Materials and equipment purchased from:

Moss Motors (mossmotors.com)

Victoria British (victoriabritish.com)

Eastwood (eastwood.com)

The Roadster Factory (the-roadster-factory.com)

English Parts (englishparts.com)

Napa Auto Parts (napaonline.com)

Apple Hydraulics (applehydraulics.com)

Coker Tire (cokertire.com)