What radiators are you guys using?

miller · Post by **miller** » Tue May 13, 2003 8:28 pm

hey zenjoe, how did you go about putting the copper pipe in the heater channels and what did you use to solder it? Im lookin to do the same thing in my ghia. Does it require the body to be taken off?

zenjoe · Post by **zenjoe** » Thu May 15, 2003 11:15 am

I actually ran my coolent lines under the pan, my NEXT project will have the coolent tubes on the heater channels. Anyways, you should be able to put the tubes in without takeing the body off. There are 2 ways of doing this. Either from inside the car, or from the bottom of the heater channel (which will require you to take the body off) I was going to keep the body on the pan and cut the heater channels out because they need to be replaced anyway (rusty 56 european Oval) .

The solder you use would be the industrial type that you can buy in the plumbing section at your local hardware store. This is specifically made for sealing copper tubing. DO NOT USE electrical solder because it is made not to seal, but to conduct electricity. You will also need to get some solder flux.

To solder the pipes together, brush the flux on where the joint is, make sure that you get plenty on both surfaces. Then you stick your tubes together and heat the joint up with a torch. Apply the solder when the flux starts bubbling out. The solder will literally be sucked into the joint. If the solder does not suck into the joint, you need more heat.

miller · Post by **miller** » Thu May 15, 2003 7:28 pm

Ok Ive brazed before so soldering should be more of the same. Would fusing the metal togeather before you add the solder be a good idea? Like melting the joining surfaces togeather to get it to hold then add the solder filler around it. And what would you think is better a copper radiator or an aluminum one. I dont really care about weight all I care about is performance (cooling ability) and reliability. Thanks for the replies.