Has anybody used an automatic radiator in a manual car?

[EODguy]

As a former radiator shop tech (40 yrs ago)....

Visit pretty much any non-chain radiator shop and they will most likely give you the correct size plugs for free (or very cheap) if not they will probably be able pull the tank off the header plate and install a manual tank. Radiator tanks are sold by manufacturers to shops only, so you won't find them outside that chain.

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[paramax55]

Originally Posted by EODguy

As a former radiator shop tech (40 yrs ago)....

Visit pretty much any non-chain radiator shop and they will most likely give you the correct size plugs for free (or very cheap) if not they will probably be able pull the tank off the header plate and install a manual tank. Radiator tanks are sold by manufacturers to shops only, so you won't find them outside that chain.

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That's good info. If this doesn't work for some reason, I'll try that. Now... all I need to do is find a radiator repair shop in 2025...

[EODguy]

Originally Posted by paramax55

That's good info. If this doesn't work for some reason, I'll try that. Now... all I need to do is find a radiator repair shop in 2025...

I hadn’t thought about shops disappearing and being only general type shops now.

I'm too old and too long outside of the US.

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[workingonit]

Originally Posted by paramax55

Now... all I need to do is find a radiator repair shop in 2025...

Originally Posted by EODguy

I hadn’t thought about shops disappearing and being only general type shops now. I'm too old

Some rad repair shops are still out there, but not as many as there were, even 10 years ago.

I'm even older than you, EODguy, and remember back when there were all sorts of specialty shops all around my area, and even more out near where my Dad worked, surrounded by a Naval Air Station, and two aerospace manufacturing plants (my Dad worked for LTV-Chance Vought, and my Grandmother had retired from Temco, next door, after 20 years, from '43-'63).

All those skilled workers (mostly trained in WW2) had their own side businesses and shops, and they could repair about everything. Same in our neighborhood, full of the same people and skill-sets. If you needed a car (or whatever) repaired, there was always a shop nearby to get anything done...usually recommended by word-of-mouth (who needed Yellow Pages or the Internet?).

[80stech]

There are a number of ways the plug can be held in securely including using the plate or melting the edges, hose clamp, pin, grinding a bit of a groove into the pipe for the JB weld to lock into, etc. I don't see how the plate was even a problem or how it's weird that they only used 1/2 of the automatic one instead of making a different part. If it was me I would have went with cutting pipe threads but I have the taps and dies handy. Waaay too much drama for what it is.

[paramax55]

After I put this plug in, I tried to pull it back out some to clean the edges one last time with acetone. I couldn't budge it. It won't be moving even without the JB Weld. With the JB Weld added, it's permanent. I also don't trust the head gasket on this thing, either. It's going to get a bunch of miles close to home before it goes any distance. If this plug were to move, it's only a few minutes to pull the radiator out and cross pin it. As far as threading it for a plug... the walls of this tubular piece are only .100" thick. A pipe tap is tapered and that means a plug is putting outward pressure on the hole it's screwed in to. I've already replaced the expansion tank from cracking and I think it would be inviting the same problem with the raiator several years down the road.

[Clavurion]

Originally Posted by paramax55

As far as threading it for a plug... the walls of this tubular piece are only .100" thick. A pipe tap is tapered and that means a plug is putting outward pressure on the hole it's screwed in to.

Use end tap so the thread is not tapered and/or taper the bolt too. If you drill a suitable grooved/tapered flat surface on the connector face for o ring there is not much force required. Compare it to bleed screw which are usually destroyed by over torquing when the o ring does the job and very low torque needed.

[paramax55]

Originally Posted by Clavurion

Use end tap so the thread is not tapered and/or taper the bolt too. If you drill a suitable grooved/tapered flat surface on the connector face for o ring there is not much force required. Compare it to bleed screw which are usually destroyed by over torquing when the o ring does the job and very low torque needed.

The hole is .450, which is the minor diameter for a 1/2-20 thread. So a tap would go right in. But it would cut about 1/4 of the way into the .100 thick wall - if it doesn't wander to one side or the other. Then I would be cutting an o-ring groove into some sort of bolt - stainless, steel, aluminum, or plastic. Everyone hates cutting stainless. I would prefer aluminum or plastic. So I would have to order a bolt, or make it, then machine it. Or I could make a plug with aluminum I already have, which I did.

[Clavurion]

Originally Posted by paramax55

The hole is .450, which is the minor diameter for a 1/2-20 thread. So a tap would go right in. But it would cut about 1/4 of the way into the .100 thick wall - if it doesn't wander to one side or the other. Then I would be cutting an o-ring groove into some sort of bolt - stainless, steel, aluminum, or plastic. Everyone hates cutting stainless. I would prefer aluminum or plastic. So I would have to order a bolt, or make it, then machine it. Or I could make a plug with aluminum I already have, which I did.

Why not use M12 for example oil plug like I suggested? I know the thread on the plug side won't be be full depth but likely sufficient when long enough and use some gasket sealant or even filling thread locker to secure it in place.

You could even try the bolt straight on when properly heated. It will melt the threads (rolling) instead of removing material with a tap.

[paramax55]

Originally Posted by Clavurion

Why not use M12 for example oil plug like I suggested? I know the thread on the plug side won't be be full depth but likely sufficient when long enough and use some gasket sealant or even filling thread locker to secure it in place.

You could even try the bolt straight on when properly heated. It will melt the threads (rolling) instead of removing material with a tap.

Because it was easier to make a plug. And it kept more of the plastic in place. And it worked.