Nissens water radiator?

[K Simmonds]

Good decision, I'm kinda kicking myself for selling my custom alloy rad I got made for my S2, however it had no outlet for an Aux rad and I want to keep my RS2 as stock looking as I can (even though it's not) and I have a spare Behr in my attic.

[Tom_]

My new custom rad will have that exit for AUX rad, not sure if i gonna use it but Its good to have it. You will never know and maybe with turbo engine it will come handy.

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[Bowie69]

Honestly, ALL modern vehicles have plastic end tanks, to not have a radiator because it is made of plastic is denying reality.

As for repairs, when was the last time anyone actually had a radiator recored? Costs have skyrocketed recently, a mate was being quote £400 to recored a series LR rad -madness.

I fitted a Behr one in the summer, replacing a 15 year old metal tanked radiator, the core had eventually rotted and was seeping -a 15 year life as a consumable item is fine for me, especially given I daily this, and it is not babied by being stuffed in a garage all winter.

[K Simmonds]

Honestly, ALL modern vehicles have plastic end tanks, to not have a radiator because it is made of plastic is denying reality.

As for repairs, when was the last time anyone actually had a radiator recored? Costs have skyrocketed recently, a mate was being quote £400 to recored a series LR rad -madness.

I fitted a Behr one in the summer, replacing a 15 year old metal tanked radiator, the core had eventually rotted and was seeping -a 15 year life as a consumable item is fine for me, especially given I daily this, and it is not babied by being stuffed in a garage all winter.

Totally agree with you Peter...

And I'm pretty sure you comment wasn't aimed at me, there are actually advantages to having plastic end tanks as long as that plastic is good quality, it's less prone to cracking from vibration and in the case of Behr radiators surprisingly easy to swap them over. It can even be done at home with basic tools if your mechanically competent... I know because I've taken one off to reseal it, sure it took a while but is now totally water tight and in place on my RS2.

All alloy radiators that are made from good quality materials are great and will last a lifetime, though cheap one's made from thin metal are prone to cracking.

However, I wouldn't not use a radiator due to plastic end tanks, my gripe is the quality of the plastic on some cheaper radiators.

I can get a recore done a little cheaper than that depending on the rad, but again your right it costs twice as much as it did only a couple of years ago.

That one you've linked to is really good value BTW, good find.

[Bowie69]

Cheers Kit, yes, not aimed at you or indeed anyone directly! Just there's a lot of nonsense spouted around about all these new fangled things, before we know it we will be decrying electronic ignition on a Morris Minor because points have never failed us once, while we choke on our own brown beer......

Things change, but not always for costs, there are obvious improvements in the plastics industry in the last 20 years, and especially the automotive world has embraced it, for good reason -it works, and is either cheaper or as cost effective as an ali casting or brass end tanks

[Nuvo]

Behr radiators surprisingly easy to swap them over. It can even be done at home with basic tools if your mechanically competent... I know because I've taken one off to reseal it, sure it took a while but is now totally water tight and in place on my RS2.

Can you tell me a bit about how where and how you resealed this please?
I have a Behr rad that leaks at the top header tank I think the header tank and core are fine, I believe the most likely cause may be the seal between them. Do you know if there a gasket used between the two parts or is it just the wave crimps that provides a compression seal?

[Bowie69]

There is usually a rubber gasket, yes.

[newsh]

Can you tell me a bit about how where and how you resealed this please?
I have a Behr rad that leaks at the top header tank I think the header tank and core are fine, I believe the most likely cause may be the seal between them. Do you know if there a gasket used between the two parts or is it just the wave crimps that provides a compression seal?

I stopped a Behr rad leaking at the header tank joint by squeezing the crimps down gently to increase pressure on the rubber gasket, it worked a charm and is still in use a few years later.

[K Simmonds]

There is usually a rubber gasket, yes.

That's right there's a thin rubber gasket which as long as it isn't damaged can be cleaned with care and reused with a light smear of heat proof silicone for good measure. If the gasket is knackered then you'll have to just use silicone or a similar sealant, obviously it needs to be waterproof and flexible to allow for expansion and contraction. Gorilla make have come out with a new product in the past year or so that would be really good for this job, it comes on a roll and is a couple of mm thick, I used it on some guttering recently and was impressed with the results.

It is a bit of a faff doing it properly at home, for good results you really need to make a simple jig out of wood to hold the rad in place and apply even pressure to the tank(s) before re-crimping them carefully by hand. I've done a lot of carpentry so found knocking one up easy enough, you need a bit of 3/4 ply that's a little wider and and about 130mm longer than the radiator then drill holes in it to accommodate the outlets on the rad so you can lay it in the center.

Also drill a few holes in both ends so you can access the crimps on the reverse with the radiator in position, at least half of them.

Fix a bit of of 2"x 2" softwood across the top and bottom in parallel to each other leaving space to position the radiator square to them both, then cut a selection of slip wedges out of 2x2 so you can can clamp the rad in place using said wedges. It's kinda like making a window the old fashioned way without sash clamps.

Wedges apply a surprising amount of pressure so you don't need to go wild fixing the radiator in place, the most important thing is to have even pressure on the tank your resealing. I used a pair of wedges in each corner and another pair in the middle and a light weight hammer to tap them into place.

If you do this be sure to use normal 2"x 2" pine, especially for the wedges, it's quite forgiving whereas a hardwood could risk cracking the tanks.

It takes a bit of time but saves buying a new radiator, took me an afternoon to remove and reseal the bottom tank on my RS2 radiator, which is the easier of the two to tackle.

If you want to do both then I'd advise doing them one at time. You could remove both to clean out the core, in which case adjust the jig to suit when installing the first one

Or if your not as tight as me buy three long spring clamps with soft jaws, in fact if I was to do it again that's probably how I'd go about it as they're cheap as chips these days. I just have a tendency of working with what I have to hand as I'm miles from any shops and mean.

[K Simmonds]

I stopped a Behr rad leaking at the header tank joint by squeezing the crimps down gently to increase pressure on the rubber gasket, it worked a charm and is still in use a few years later.

This is certainly worth a try before going through the palaver I've just typed up.

[Nuvo]

Thanks to both of you for the help, It would be ideal if I could fix the leak by recrimping with the rad still on the car as that would be fairly straight forward.
What tool did you chaps use to nip the crimps? Large locking pliers or something else?
If I can't get it to seal using this methond then I'll take it out the car and build a jig as you've kindly detailed Kit.

Thinking ahead, do you have any tips on removing the bottom rad support nut without causing damage to the rubber mounting bobbin as this is NLA as I recall.

[K Simmonds]

It certainly worth having a go at tightening the crimps with the rad in the car still, much less hassle, to be honest I'd have to have a look through my draw of pliers to recall what I used to redo the crimps. I'm pretty sure I just used the point of a pair with close to the correct V profile to to manually push them back into place. The alloy is really soft and it doesn't take much effort to bend it.

Expanding on what John described you could take a shortish metal straight edge, something like a wide rule or set square, lay it on top of the seam of crimps and carefully tap down on it to tighten up a specific area.

The bobbins on the bottom can be a sod to undo as they tend to be well corroded in place, if you can't remove it without risking damage leave a gap in the bottom bit of 2" x 2" and work around it. I was lucky and got mine off by cleaning what thread I could get with a very thin wire brush and pick, warmed it up as much as I dared with the heat gun attachment for my gas soldering iron and gave a good soaking in penetrating fluid.

If you've ever got to cut the old one off and fit a replacement for whatever reason smother the thread in copper grease. The factory part is NLA but generic rubber bobbins with M8 threads are available in the right size.

Just been to see if I can find my old jig as I think I've still got it, was absolutely freezing in my workshop so gave up pretty quickly, though here's a pair of some slip wedges I found that I used on a recent carpentry project. These are Oak so wouldn't be suitable but I'm putting a pic up so others can understand what I'm talking about. I've used much larger versions of these to jack up entire chimneys when installing new lintels, the finer they are the more force can applied.

[Nuvo]

Thanks Kit that's very helpful. I'd be grateful if you could dig out the jig some day for a picture or two to get a full appreciation of how you tackled this.
No rush of course, just whenever the weather is a bit more user friendly and you have the time to spare.

In the meantime, I'll have a look on the web for these spring clamps you mention. I think I've seen these before in B&Q made by Irwin as I recall. I'lll have a look see.

Edit: How about one of these (460 or 600mm)? : link

[newsh]

Channel lock pliers I think! But after what Kit just posted maybe I just tapped the crimp down :think:

[K Simmonds]

Thanks Kit that's very helpful. I'd be grateful if you could dig out the jig some day for a picture or two to get a full appreciation of how you tackled this.
No rush of course, just whenever the weather is a bit more user friendly and you have the time to spare.

In the meantime, I'll have a look on the web for these spring clamps you mention. I think I've seen these before in B&Q made by Irwin as I recall. I'lll have a look see.

Edit: How about one of these (460 or 600mm)? : link

I'll see what I can find, I've got someone coming to collect a load of parts tomorrow so may stumble across it then...

Yes.. Those clamps you linked to are exactly what I meant, I have several set's but non large enough to do a radiator, I reckon three of them would be much easier than fabricating a custom jig, plus you can get to all the crimps really easily.

I'd have to measure a Rad but you'll probably going to want 600mm ones which are dam expensive on B&Q's site, the 460mm might just do it... Try 'My Tool Shed' and see what they have to offer, I find them to be about the most competitive tool vendor... or even eBay.