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MG MGA - Rad report

Just replaced my 56 year old rad as it has a pinhole leak.
Bought new one from Sports Car Parts Lt in TN. Made in UK.
Has the same tube arrangement (flat tubes in-line) but it weighs a lot less, and the difference I believe is the fins, which are quite fragile, aluminum and not a honeycomb pattern like orig. Also, they are not bonded to the tubes as I belive the orig are soldered.
Anyway, performance test is what matters and it runs 200F where it was 180 F before (60 mph in 30 C)
Another annoying point is that the mounting holes span is 20" vs 20-1/4 original. Good job the holes are slotted in the body but could not use full size washers,
Oh, also I had to ream out the hole for the hood prop.
I'm considering trying to fix the leak on the old rad!!
Art Pearse

I was thinking about trying to have my original radiator repaired and found this guy who claims he can repair it when two other shops told me it is not repairable. I have not used him so I cannot give any reference, good or bad. His name is Paul Koch and his email is paul@pkars.com He is in Hyattsville, Maryland. Might be worth contacting him.

Jim
JL Cheatham

Art, very strange with your temperature readings. I've converted to alloy rads in all cars, and the experience is the reverse of yours...i.e. run 20F cooler.
Gary Lock

I bought an original cell core radiator on Ebay last year knowing it had a small leak which didn't matter for the tests I was going to carry out. The leak was at the very bottom of the core where it solders to the bottom tank. After I had completed my tests I took it to a local radiator shop asking if there was a chance of repair. I was told it was 50/50 and that they would charge £25 if they succeeded, £15 if they failed. Well they did fail but Im not sure how much time they would have spent investigating.

If you've got a local shop with similar rates it may be worth a try. If it fails like mine then as a last resort before a possible recore why not try one of the radiator leak remedies. There is a material called BarsLeaks designed for this which you pour into your leaking radiator when the system is at running temperature.

I tried it about fifty years ago, not on a radiator, but on an old Riley engine having an unusual design of having tubes passing through the block for the passage of exhaust gas to heat up the carburettor. One of the block tubes had a pinhole leak and as the repair cost was higher than the car value I gave Barsleaks a try. I was very impressed when 10 minutes after pouring it in the radiator the leak stopped! I carried on using the car for a few years after this with no re-appearance of the leak...........Mike

Mike Moore

Gary, nothing against alloy in general, just that the alloy fins on my new one are very flimsy, bit like a cheap a/c unit. Just don't even touch them!
Temps - the test I did was with water fill, no antifreeze yet, so it won't be any better with A/F.

Anyone else like to comment on the ally rads available?

Mike, I intend to pressure test the old rad and pinpoint the leak and go from there. Maybe its at the junction of tank and core and I can drop some solder on it.

This was a bad expoerience overall as I wasted time and $$ changing the water pump which I initially diagnosed wrongly!
Art Pearse

Art,
I have recently had a similar experience with the new radiators. I ordered a new one from BPNW as well as a new 4lb radiator cap. The new radiator is quite a bit lighter than the old, original one and came with a radiator cap. A couple of things that I don't like are that the cap that came with the radiator doesn't have a pressure rating that I can decipher. Second, the neck on the new radiator is shorter than my old one and the extra cap that I bought will not fit on this radiator. Third, my car ran quite a bit hotter with this radiator than the original one. One thing that I do like is that the overflow tube is plastic instead of metal which will make it easier to add an overflow tank should I decide in the future. I'm seriously considering getting my old one fixed (if possible) and using it.
S Jackson

S.J, looks the same as mine.
Art Pearse

I've installed 2 Wizard radiators in my cars. The '34 hot rod and the 58 A. They each did the job.

I removed the pump mounted fan and installed a pusher fan on the A with a 190* relay.
MAndrus

This thread was discussed between 07/07/2017 and 11/07/2017

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