[daveoxide]

I finally fixed that pesky leak in my radiator. I had gone to see my GF in Davis on wednesday, when it was 104 degrees. And of course there was traffic at 5 in the evening as I drove there, and so I sat in traffic for quite awhile. It heated up, but never went past half way on the temp gauge. There was a lot of pressure built up though because when I got home and checked under the hood there was coolant puke everywhere. It sprayed out of the top tank, on the seam, then hit the fan and flung everywhere. So I finally decided to fix it.

I ended up on taking it out and just re-soldering the top tank where it leaked. I then pressure tested it, it leaked still, soldered more, small little pinhole leak, more solder, done. I am pretty happy with myself for fixing it. I saved $80-$100 by doing it myself, and the best part is that it actually worked. Score another one for my team!

 

[mlnielsen]

Good work. Mine leaked around the filler neck. The radiator shop charged me $30 to fix it. I later bought a soldering gun for $40... At least now I'm ready...

BTW, did you fix that pesky pinging problem??

 

[66conv6]

That's great. I tried to JB Weld a leak on my radiator once and it never held up. Bought new 3 core radiator for six banger. Over 10 years later, engine still happy.

 

[sharkmouth]

Way to go....it seems these days (days of everyone considering everything disposable) that many handymen never bother attaining these skills.....I think a lot of us could save big bucks learning many fundamental tasks like the soldering job you did. It's not like it's that technically hard to do, and all you need is a propane torch nozzle, the propane cylinder it attaches to, and some brass brazing rods (and proper safety equipment)....not very expensive either.

I've even seen quarter panels BRAZED onto a car (with the appropriate brazing rods for steel)

 

[daveoxide]

I tried the JB weld too, but it wasn't holding up. It would just push off of the radiator and leak again. But not anymore....

 

[daveoxide]

Pinging problem is subdued, for now. I made a rinky dink water injection system that activates only at full throttle (which was when it pinged, and yes, I did install the biggest secondary jet on my 1405, and I have played with my distributor timing curves and total advance till the handle broke off). It works and keeps it from pinging at WOT.

The other day I was driving over to my friends house and got on it and it pinged. I was fearing the worst because it was a bit warmer than normal that day and I thought the higher heat was causing it to ping. Turned out my water resovoir went dry. Oops! Filled her up, purged it, took her out for a test drive and all was good and ping-less.

 

[mlnielsen]

Edelbrock used to make a water injection kit. My brother used to have a 440 Roadrunner that had water injection when he bought it. He had problems with the controller, mailed it to Edelbrock, and they replaced it no questions asked!! It worked pretty good at keeping combustion temps down and the chambers cleaned out.

My dad's motorhome had water injection too. It sat for extended periods, being an RV. One winter the water injection leaked into the intake. One cylinder received most of the water. The cylinder walls rusted requiring a teardown. So be careful!!

How did you fabricate this water injection? You could probably use water misters from a drip system for watering plants. They give a fine mist.

 

[66conv6]

We've used homemade water injection to improve mileage and reduce temps on VW Bugs using fish aquarium plumbing.

 

[Guest]

Brazing Qtr's is like riding a Honda, it's fine until someone see's it !!!! Call the police !!!