confused about coolant pipe

[stouchton]

I need to replace the coolant pipe - welded bung has a leak when it gets hot and the replacement pipes seem cheaper than the time spent to reweld and repaint. My current pipe is not an original.

Should the pipe be painted black, or should it be unpainted stainless steel?

I got confused when the Snyder's catalog called out an unpainted stainless pipe for the "show cars". I have only seen them painted black.

[RonC]

They were painted black. If your interested in originality get a copy of the judging standards. Don't rely on information from vendor catalogs.

[Mike V. Florida]

Yea black, the reference to the stainless steel and show cars is in it's shape and method of bending.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Be sure to buy the right shape. The bend is near the front of the pipe for 1928-9 Model A's and near the middle of the pipe for 1930-1 Model A's.

I installed an engine in a 1929 Tudor a few months ago that had the wrong pipe. It was hard to install and puts a lot of stress on the radiator bottom outlet.

[Napa Skip]

As stated above, the Model A Judging Standards & Restoration Guidelines should be your guide. There is an "Engine Compartment Finishes" table on page 1-18, although neither my edition (Revision 2011) of this page nor the Area 3: Cooling chapter appears to address the finish of the water return pipe. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can point to where in then judging standards this information can be found. (The original edition of the judging standards contained a statement that "In the interest of preservation, the following options are acceptable: 1. Any item which was unfinished and subject to rust may be painted black..." but this appears to have been deleted from the most recent edition.)

Interestingly, page 3-7 (Revision 2011) Of the judging standards shows three water return pipes; 1928 thru 1929, 1930 thru June 1930 and July 1930 through the end of production (although there appears to be some confusion - to me at least - between the descriptive paragraph and the water pipe illustration caption; again, perhaps someone more knowledgeable can clarify this).

[CarlG]

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It may not be correct for judging, but I got the stainless pipe from Snyders and painted it black.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by CarlG

It may not be correct for judging, but I got the stainless pipe from Snyders and painted it black.

Is any special prep needed to make paint stick to stainless? Thanks

[J Franklin]

I bead blast stainless to a matte finish and it holds paint well.

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

Is any special prep needed to make paint stick to stainless? Thanks

I just painted it right out of the box with Rustoleum Professional Spray paint. It's been a couple years with no hint of paint flaking off.

[stouchton]

Thanks for the feedback - and the recommendation on the Judging Standards!

[Rock Hornbuckle]

You can have the best of both worlds with a stainless pipe and powder coat it black. Be sure that you don't powder coat the inside of the pipe, only the outside.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Rock Hornbuckle

You can have the best of both worlds with a stainless pipe and powder coat it black. Be sure that you don't powder coat the inside of the pipe, only the outside.

Another lesson I learned the hard way.
About 10 years ago I had my steel pipe powder coated inside and out, and within a few weeks all the inside powdercoating came off and was floating in the top tank of the radiator.

[Rock Hornbuckle]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

Another lesson I learned the hard way.
About 10 years ago I had my steel pipe powder coated inside and out, and within a few weeks all the inside powdercoating came off and was floating in the top tank of the radiator.

Tom, that's because the inside of the pipe wasn't sandblasted. If the slightest debris or even a figerprint(oil) on metal to be powdercoated is present, the coating will come off. A very close friend owns a powder coating business and uses a walk-in oven that I designed for him 15 years ago.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Rock Hornbuckle

Tom, that's because the inside of the pipe wasn't sandblasted. If the slightest debris or even a figerprint(oil) on metal to be powdercoated is present, the coating will come off. A very close friend owns a powder coating business and uses a walk-in oven that I designed for him 15 years ago.

But on my pipe I did take special care to sandblast the inside of the pipe. I had heard before that powdercoating won't work on the inside of the pipe, but it was shortly after I had my pipe powdercoated.

[Rock Hornbuckle]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

But on my pipe I did take special care to sandblast the inside of the pipe. I had heard before that powdercoating won't work on the inside of the pipe, but it was shortly after I had my pipe powdercoated.

Thanks Tom, that's good to know. I'll place that info in my old memory cells and hope it sticks.

[ericr]

not to hijack this thread, but do you guys feel the '29 lower tank-to-hose connection is slightly angled and does not attach as smoothly as the later models, but rather seems slightly torqued?

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by ericr

not to hijack this thread, but do you guys feel the '29 lower tank-to-hose connection is slightly angled and does not attach as smoothly as the later models, but rather seems slightly torqued?

Yes, the bottom outlet is definately angled. Maybe some repro radiators aren't but my original is. I'll take a picture of it later today. First I need to finish the brake line on my Olds. Lost my brakes the other day.

Sure glad my Model A doesn't have lines to leak.

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

...Sure glad my Model A doesn't have lines to leak.

Except for gas & water

[H. L. Chauvin]

Bought a stainless pipe about 6 years ago.

Thought petcock was leaking -- with a flash light at night, crawled under to find the SS weld at the petcock joint was leaking very little.

Soldered pin hole in pipe with silver solder, washed pipe with POR Marine Clean; etched with POR 15 Prep & Ready, (formerly called POR 15 Metal Prep); painted with (2) coats of POR 15, followed by POR Chassis Paint -- today, no leaks, looks new after (6) years.

Because of no high pressure like in water supply pipes, silver solder will work on your pipe if the crack or hole is cleaned with something like paint thinner, then fluxed with silver solder flux, & finally soldered.

BTW: (A flash light is wonderful water leak detector for roof leaks, automotive leaks, etc. -- each tiny "new" drop of water that emerges shines like a diamond.)

Hope this helps.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by ericr

not to hijack this thread, but do you guys feel the '29 lower tank-to-hose connection is slightly angled and does not attach as smoothly as the later models, but rather seems slightly torqued?

Here is my 9-27-28 pipe. The radiator pipe and shroud are original parts. The outlet angles down and out slightly, and the pipe is bent to match. This is why you need the correct pipe, and not the 30-1 pipe on the 28-9 car.