Brassworks radiator owners - How close is your fan blade to the upper neck?

[28 Special Coupe]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions, guys. I'm going to double check my motor mounts to make sure the engine isn't sitting too high. Also, I'll take some measurements of both old and new radiators for comparison. Maybe my old one was sitting a little higher.

Like may others, I'm of the opinion that Brassworks makes a good quality product, so I want to rule out any factors on my side before assuming something's wrong with the radiator. A lot of things could be misaligned in an 82 year old car, so I don't want to harm a good company's reputation if I've simply got something out of whack. I just find it very odd that so many guys are having to take the extreme measure of cutting down their fan blades to make them fit properly.

I'm beginning to wonder if there are several small issues that are adding up to one big one. Hopefully I can come up with a decent resolution to this and everyone can benefit. Thanks again.

[Jerry in Shasta]

Look at the picture! The radiator neck is coming down at a angle that does not match the angle of the hose.

Raise the radiator about 1/2", or tighten the front motor mount and the and the angle will match.

[Mike V. Florida]

Look at both sets of pictures the original and the repro. The hose and the neck make a straight line on the original the the clamp is enenly spaced on the hose.

Now look at the repro, the hose is angles and the clamp is not evenly space on the clamp because of it. It appears that the angle from the radiator to the neck is not correct.

[Tom Wesenberg]

The water outlet on the head is longer for the 1930-1 Model A's than for the 1928-9 A's. Make sure you aren't using a long outlet on shorter radiators of the 28-9 A's.

[Rich in Tucson]

Originally Posted by Glenn of northport

I have 28 brassworks radiator with shroud it is 1/8 inch no problem yet , I had to send radiator back on my dime to fix lower drain pipe came out wrong they corrected ,were very nice and all is good now. Good luck Glenn from Northport.

Hello Glenn - I have heard several people complain about this issue lately - are you using the correct '28-'29 lower pipe (frequently called the one for the Powerhouse generator) or did you try one of those with the original Brassworks that you got?

I helped a guy with a new Brassworks for a '29 several years ago and using the '28-'29 pipe worked fine whereas the '30-'31 pipe would not have.

[28 Special Coupe]

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Okay guys, I just had to come up with a reasonable explanation for my radiator problem. So I spent a few hours tonight pulling the Brassworks out and comparing it to my original radiator. Furthermore, I remounted the original radiator to see just how close the fan blade was to it's inlet neck. So here comes the part where I have to eat some humble pie. Ugh. It was only about 1/4". I guess I never noticed it being that close before.

After I got over that shock, I had to figure out why the same fan blade is only 1/8" from the inlet neck of the new radiator. I measured the height of the both radiators from the bottom of the top tank to the very bottom of the radiator. Guess what? The Brassworks is 1/8" shorter than my original. That explains the difference. If I shim up the Brassworks with 1/8" spacers, it will be at the same height as my original.

Now let me just say that I don't know for sure which radiator is the correct height. I know almost nothing about the history of my car, including whether or not the tanks have ever been removed from the radiator for rodding or some other repair. So the height of mine could very well be incorrect. What I have concluded, though, is that the Brassworks is an excellect reproduction. Not exact, but very close. In comparing it to my original, I am pretty impressed with how similar they are. Having the two radiators side by side also convinced me that the funnel-shaped inlet is the correct size and at the correct angle. So in my mind, that question is settled.

Thanks again for all of your input. This actually turned out to be a very interesting thread.

Steve