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)
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