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12-16-2017, 10:46 AM | #1 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Montpelier, VT
Posts: 223
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Radiator Fan Rash
This past year I've been looking for a good used Model a radiator and they're not that easy to find. One common problem is the fan appears to have brushed the radiator fins when the engine was running. It's hard to believe there would be that much movement, but it seems to happened quite a lot. Is this a common problem and what would cause this?
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12-16-2017, 11:06 AM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sedro-Woolley, WA
Posts: 1,023
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Re: Radiator Fan Rash
In 2018, trying to find a good original radiator 90 years after the first one radiator was made, it is going to be tough. First of all, during the last 90 years, the best radiators have already been used, and what are left are the dinged up radiators that were not good enough to be used. The biggest problem that I have been having is not radiator rash, but rotten radiator cores that will not hold water anymore. For a high points car, it looks like the best option is to have a radiator with good tanks, re-cored with a correct radiator core. Today's model A Fords are being built out of garage floor sweepings that in past years, the parts were discarded because they were not good enough to be used.
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12-16-2017, 12:12 PM | #3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 5,902
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Re: Radiator Fan Rash
Brassworks makes an excellent and accurate radiator. It isn't cheap, but you can't buy quality cheap, no matter what the product is. For most if not all of us, the Model A is a hobby. Hobbies cost money. If you're a golfer, clubs aren't cheap. If you ski, lift tickets and equipment aren't cheap. If you like to shoot, guns are expensive. If you collect stamps, toy trains, old books, or whatever, these things ain't cheap.
I'm not rich by any means, but I want my Model A to be reliable and enjoyable, so I save money until I can buy quality parts, because I want to buy them only once. It is good to keep John Ruskin's Common Law of Business in mind: "There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey."
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Ray Horton, Portland, OR As you go through life, keep your eye on the donut, not the hole. |
12-16-2017, 12:34 PM | #4 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alabama
Posts: 8,099
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Re: Radiator Fan Rash
Good used radiators are hard to find .I did get lucky a time or two when I bought a slightly used radiator from a restored model A that got turned into a street rod .
Movement of the engine when running can be caused by the use of float A motor mounts when the rear mount that connects between the rear of the transmission and the center cross member is left out . This happens a lot if the person that installs the mounts doesn't really understand how the rear mount works and tries to take a short cut . When this happens, it floats the whole running gear . When the pedals get pushed it tends to push or float the engine foward . |
12-16-2017, 01:47 PM | #5 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: South California
Posts: 6,188
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Re: Radiator Fan Rash
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Quote:
Why it happens/causes are because copper/alum fins are super thin and delicate and anything that brushes against them will cause what you see. Installing/removing parts without removing radiator, cleaning area with tools/hands, etc. GOOD news though. There are tools made specifically for straightening/lessening this 'damage'. At times, I use a plastic credit type/size card to do same work. After straightening, repaint with radiator black spray and your happy again. Give it a try. Good luck |
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