Small puncture in radiator. Can I fix this?

[facultyofmusic]

A sharp tool (not my brain obviously) made contact with my radiator and made a small hole in one of the rows.
167657

Is there a way to patch this? A new radiator from FFR is $300. I'm hoping this isn't that expensive of a mistake :(

[facultyofmusic]

Emailed a local radiator repair shop. We'll see what they say. Meanwhile if anyone has any sage advice please do tell.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Old school brass radiators can have the damaged tube(s) pinched and soldered however aluminum radiators can’t be soldered or welded but high tech epoxies can sometimes be used. Your radiator shop should be familiar with this method.

Jeff

[rich grsc]

That ain't no small hole. That whole tube, will have to be pinched off and sealed

[CraigS]

I would take it to a rad shop. Epoxy will probably work but I'd like the choice of exactly which epoxy to use be made by someone who works on radiators daily.

[Hoooper]

Ive had tubes like that welded and turned out fine. Has to be a good welder experienced with welding thin aluminum, and its not going to look great when its done since the thin fins will want to melt away from the weld location and the tube itself is pretty much welded shut

[Tuftster]

Not too far from you I used Pankey's Radiator Repair in Hayward when my fan hub cut through three tubes on my radiator. Can't remember the cost but they welded them and haven't had any issues. Wasn't the prettiest but no leaks.


167747167748

[SJDave]

A sharp tool (not my brain obviously) made contact with my radiator and made a small hole in one of the rows.
167657

Is there a way to patch this? A new radiator from FFR is $300. I'm hoping this isn't that expensive of a mistake :(

Did the same thing on mine....took it to Radiatorland on Layfayette Street in Santa Clara...$110 to boil out, weld up vane and pressure test. Been working for 20,000 miles.

That shop is GONE...but there are several in the vicinity with 4.5 to 5 star ratings.

[JohnK]

Did the same thing on mine....took it to Radiatorland on Layfayette Street in Santa Clara...$110 to boil out, weld up vane and pressure test. Been working for 20,000 miles.

That shop is GONE...but there are several in the vicinity with 4.5 to 5 star ratings.

I needed an NPT bung welded to the side of my radiator a few months ago. I must have called 10-15 radiator shops and welding places in the San Jose/Santa Clara area and nobody was interested in doing welding work on a radiator.

Dan- I'd be curious to know if you find someone that's willing to repair it. Seems like every shop nowadays just wants to throw away the current radiator and replace it with a new one.

[facultyofmusic]

Did the same thing on mine....took it to Radiatorland on Layfayette Street in Santa Clara...$110 to boil out, weld up vane and pressure test. Been working for 20,000 miles.

That shop is GONE...but there are several in the vicinity with 4.5 to 5 star ratings.

Hey Dave, that Radiatorland shop was the one I contacted! The website looked like they were still there. Do you know how long ago they left?

[facultyofmusic]

I needed an NPT bung welded to the side of my radiator a few months ago. I must have called 10-15 radiator shops and welding places in the San Jose/Santa Clara area and nobody was interested in doing welding work on a radiator.

Dan- I'd be curious to know if you find someone that's willing to repair it. Seems like every shop nowadays just wants to throw away the current radiator and replace it with a new one.

I hope that's not the case here :(. Honestly if no one's willing to do it I'll try to do it myself with some jb-weld radiator repair epoxy and see how long it lasts. Fingers crossed.

[SJDave]

That's weird, my first google search for radiator repair shops did not list them. Just did it again and they are there!! Give them a call, maybe they will still do it.

[Rsnake]

Out off roading in a jeep cj5 and my brother stuck his fan into the radiator destroying 5 or 6 tubes. We stuck some JB weld in there and hoped for the best. He ended up driving it for years that way without a leak.

[facultyofmusic]

Radiatorland asked if it's copper/brass or aluminum. I said aluminum. Guys said "There's nothing I can do for you". So I guess that's that.

[J R Jones]

You might consider another approach. Before I had a TIG welder and was building oil coolers from A/C evaporators, I had specialty welding shops do my welding. There is higher level welding done for other industries, including aircraft. In CA you have way more high tech welding choices than WI. Call around.
jim

[Dave Tabor]

Can you pull that tube out by cutting the fins between it and the adjacent tubes and bend it back on itself (fold it over and crimp it) and either solder or JB-Weld it?

After two FFR radiators (one looks just like Tufster's- do not mount fan directly to the radiator) (FFR's do not appear in stock online) I've been using these:

https://www.radiatorexpress.com/product/RADIATOR/FORD/1965/THUNDERBIRD/base/64l-v8390cid/221913/1333505

Not a direct replacement as the in/out hose diameters are a bit different (I can't remember 1.5" or 1.75") but physically it fits my Coupe and I can get a spare delivered in a couple of days. I bring one along on long trips away from home (in the truck/tow rig).

Dave
Gen III Coupe #17

[Ernie67]

I was able to repair my radiator with some rod I saw on TicTok- they were repairing holes in the bottom of pop cans. I believe I bought it on Amazon though- it has been a couple years now. You have to remove it from the car, clean the crap out of it, and melt the rod with a SMALL torch. I did lose a small area of the delicate fins. My damage was caused by the clip on the back of the fan.

[facultyofmusic]

I took the radiator to John Romanoff in Redwood City. My mechanic who I trust very much recommended him. I took the radiator to him and showed him the damage. He wasn't too confident about it, but he said he'll take it and try his best. A week later he called back and I went to pick up the radiator. John tried his best to chase down the pin hole leaks after welding the row shut, but he just couldn't chase them all. He said he pressure tested it and used soapy water to identify where the leaks were and he knows there are still tiny leaks. He suggested that I'd perhaps be able to plug the rest with some good aluminum metal epoxy. I appreciate his efforts and honestly. In the end I decided that it was just not worth it to patch the rest with epoxy so I ordered a new radiator from FFR. It arrived a few days later.

So lesson learned, don't make holes on your radiator unless absolutely required.