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1920 Dennis 'N' Type
This is a 1920 Dennis 'N' Type undergoing restoration. The radiator is of brass sheet construction and were always prone to leak, after it had been attacked by both road vibration (solid tyres on cobble stones) and to a certain extent engine vibration. The quick cure was to crack a couple of eggs into the radiator water or in later years to use proprietory products like 'Radweld'. It did however mean that the seams were virtually impossible to resolder as the joints were coated in an impenetrable 'goo'. This radiator had to be completed taken apart, cleaned and then re-soldered.
This is a 1920 Dennis 'N' Type undergoing restoration. The radiator is of brass sheet construction and were always prone to leak, after it had been attacked by both road vibration (solid tyres on cobble stones) and to a certain extent engine vibration. The quick cure was to crack a couple of eggs into the radiator water or in later years to use proprietory products like 'Radweld'. It did however mean that the seams were virtually impossible to resolder as the joints were coated in an impenetrable 'goo'. This radiator had to be completed taken apart, cleaned and then re-soldered.
Dennis
Loved the egg "stop-leak" - wasn't oatmeal also used for this purpose?
What goes into radiator coolants, and today's cheaper materials; we have to test the Voltage, yes, DC Voltage, on my wife's Ford car cooling system. It seems that the anti-freeze degenerates over time into a form of battery acid, eating away the weaker of the dissimilar metal components - the plastic bits survive.
So, when your radiator's DC Voltage reaches a certain number - no, I am not making this up - it is time to change the "Prestone" - the anti-freeze. Let it go too long; and you will have to replace eaten-out bits of your cooling system....
Boy, it is a tough world out there.
Added by Pat_R-B on 04 April 2008.