Lower Radiator hose

[kdaniels]

My lower hose sprung a decent leak last week while running @ idle in the yard. It was swelled up fairly large from age so i can assume it had been on there for a LONG time.

I ordered the parts (new hose / radaitor cap from S&S) and checked the forum for those folks who had taken this project on before. Found that some folks didnt have much trouble while others had to disassemble the front end to get to the problem. Lots of good info posted but i still didnt have a clear plan of attack. Figure i'd look and decide within the first few minutes if this was going to be the problem i understood it to be.


The hose clamp was easy to get on the bottom, but the one on top was a pain due to the belts & fan. I dont recommend having a body builder set of arms for getting into these tight places but with some effort i got both clamps off.
A liitle penatrating oil around the top of the old hose and a long flat head screw driver and it came right off.

Lower part was easier, with the long flat head it came off also. The new hose was a perfect match without the wire that i found inside the old hose. I put the low end on first and squeezed my hand into those tight places to get the top started. This is where i had a problem...i didnt have enough room to force the hose any further on the water pump.

I knew for sure the top hose was started on the water pump, so i got back under the truck and used the handle of a hammer (wood type) to push the hose further up. Just make sure you use enough lube to grease things up.
It was a snap...tighten up the new clamps and took a cold beer break.

Took about two hours to change the hose which includes flushing out the system. My truck has a winch and the biggest thing winch owners need to keep in mind is MAKE SURE you are clear of the bumper BEFORE you stand up.
If you forget that step then your beer break will come alot sooner.

SEMPER FI ...


keith

 

[Barrman]

I just pull the alternator and the alternator mount once the hose has been taken off the radiator and is draining the system. I have found that easier and faster to get the job done.

 

[AZDeuce]

I guess I've been dong it the hard way. I unbolt the two bolts that hold the radiator to the front engine mount, and lift it up to get the hose on, then set it back down to tighten up the clamp.....DOH!

 

[runk]

Winch bumper meets head/neck/back, been there, done that, got the scars. The 2nd time you do it in a day, it really p$sses you off. I sometimes put a piece of foam pipe insulation (or pool noodle) on the bottom edge.

The other radiator / winch lesson you should be aware of:
The lock-out for the winch handle is really close to the radiator ! If you do have to loosen or pull out the radiator, put a thick piece of cardboard in front of the radiator to protect it from the winch.

Did you check all the other hoses ? After my lower burst (in my driveway after a couple hour drive, thankfully), I found all mine had 1988 - 1989 date codes on them, same as the engine. I replaced all of them, including the little short hoses you have to remove some of the manifolds to do, they were all crusty and rotting, several disintegrated as I was pulling them off.

 

[Barrman]

As Jeff pointed out, that winch has a lot of sharp edges facing toward the radiator. I put a hole in my Gasser radiator that way and don't plan to move the radiator again unless it is coming out. Pulling the alternator is fast and easy. Plus, it gives you a good reason to swap out the primary fuel filter while you are working there.

 

[WOLFMAN1]

heres one, i have searched and can not find a replacement hose for the upper rad hose. when i recieved my deuce it has some type of blue tape around it, zip ties, and covered from one end to the other with black tape and who knows what else. it has held so far but once the motor heats up who knows what will happen. hate to drive with untrusting hose. any ideas?

 

[runk]

All except the bottom are just cut lengths of straight bulk hose. A good auto parts store (old fashioned local or NAPA [upper hose is NAPA 24032 I'm pretty sure], or a lot of boat stores) will have it. I ordered mine from McMaster Carr, I'm pretty sure I used various sizes of
McMaster-Carr
If you need the diameters, I should be able to look them up tonight.

 

[WOLFMAN1]

i'd appreciate that, really needs replaced. i have a napa store and oriellys near me. does a gasser and multi have same diameter. should be same set up right? hey nice car what is that. you can see mine from the avatar pic.

 

[runk]

I have no idea about the Gasser hoses... Sorry, I didn't see that in your sig. Hopefully Barrman will chime back in. Mine was originally a Gasser, but came from GL with the multi-fuel.

The car in front of my Deuce is my dads 1959 Triumph TR3.

 

[WOLFMAN1]

that car is sweet. love old cars i once owned a 1971 dodge charger. i stripped it of color primered it and before i could paint it the local car show came around so i entered it. it won third place for the catagorey it was in. my brother-in law has a girlfriend somewhere in texas. whats the speedometer read on the car. and what does tr3 stand for. like i said sweet ride.

 

[Barrman]

Antelope Valley, OD Iron and Memshis all have new Gasser M35 upper and lower hoses. I think my new ones came from OD Iron 3 or 4 years ago.

Be real nice to your radiator, figure close to $1000.00 to get a new perfect condition Gasser replacement. They are not the same as the multi radiator.

 

[WOLFMAN1]

thanks i'll do that. always carfull with my rad. the last guy that had it before me let the hood hook hit the rad everytime he let it down. it don't leak water though. so i have to be careful with it.

 

[runk]

Triumph used "TR" for all their "big" sports cars, I'm not sure what, if anything it stood for. The series went from TR2 (1949, I think) through the TR8 (1982). The TR3 will do an honest 100 mph, pretty good for a relatively inexpensive British sports car from the era. A fair number of them are still raced in SCCA and vintage racing. Dad's speedometer is actually primarily in kilometers, since it was assembled in Belgium for sale in continental Europe. The guy we bought it from had owned it since the 1960's, and said it was originally owned by an American military officer in Europe, who brought it home with him. Its a neat car, but like driving a roller skate, I can't imagine racing one.

 

[WOLFMAN1]

steering wheel on left or right side? can't tell from pic. hey 100 mph is alittle more than some people can handle even nowadays

 

[runk]

Left side, Triumph's major market for the sports cars was always the US. But it just takes a RHD steering rack, dash and a couple dozen bolts to move the steering, dash bits, and pedals to switch between LHD and RHD. Lots of them have been exported back to England and switched in the last 20 years.

 

[kastein]

Antelope Valley, OD Iron and Memshis all have new Gasser M35 upper and lower hoses. I think my new ones came from OD Iron 3 or 4 years ago.

Be real nice to your radiator, figure close to $1000.00 to get a new perfect condition Gasser replacement. They are not the same as the multi radiator.

How is it different? If it is adaptable using only custom hoses and stuff like that I would probably adapt to use a multifuel radiator to save money, unless it is a meticulously restored vehicle.

 

[runk]

Won't save much money, a replacement multi-fuel is about the same because of the complex upper tank and the way the core is welded (not soldered) into the top tank. Good take outs are more available though but still $400-$500. I just had to have mine repaired (see winch note above), and learned all about them. Luckily, once the zillion layers of paint were cleaned off, it turned out to be in pretty good shape. (The old time shop I had at was concerned the core was rotting, due to the way the CARC made it look.)

 

[kastein]

Antelope Valley, OD Iron and Memshis all have new Gasser M35 upper and lower hoses. I think my new ones came from OD Iron 3 or 4 years ago.

Be real nice to your radiator, figure close to $1000.00 to get a new perfect condition Gasser replacement. They are not the same as the multi radiator.

Won't save much money, a replacement multi-fuel is about the same because of the complex upper tank and the way the core is welded (not soldered) into the top tank. Good take outs are more available though but still $400-$500. I just had to have mine repaired (see winch note above), and learned all about them. Luckily, once the zillion layers of paint were cleaned off, it turned out to be in pretty good shape. (The old time shop I had at was concerned the core was rotting, due to the way the CARC made it look.)

Good to know. I've seen good take-out multifuel ones for like $350-$400, yeah. I'm just hoping I won't need one for a long while... mine seems to handle things quite nicely, I unwittingly overheated for 10-20 miles on my long recovery trip due to blown belts and a bad temp gauge and it didn't leak a bit, just blew everything out the overflow tube. They're copper/brass/something solderable right? Are you sure the tubes aren't brazed in? I'm really hoping it's a copper/brass alloy so that I can do solder repairs if I ever need to, since I've gotten pretty good at doing those.

 

[runk]

The multi-fuel one is brass, and the bottom tank is soldered on just like normal. The top tank (which is really two tanks and a bunch of baffles) is built at the same time as the core, and all the seams / joints are made with a welding process. The guy at the shop had a name for the type of construction, but I've forgotten. It was resonably common in heavy trucks and machinery 50 years ago. So, to put a new core in, they would need to cut apart the top tank, fab up a bottom section for it that would accept a conventional core, and then solder everything back up. He quoted $750 to do that.

 

[Barrman]

The Gasser radiator has the top inlet on the drivers side compared to the passenger side on the multi. The lower is in the same spot though.

Most importantly, a Gasser radiator is about 1-2 inches shorter. Spend the money to find a good multi radiator, have the outlets moved and resized, have the upper mount fabbed or swapped out (The Gassers had 2 different upper mounts and both are different from the multi) and then you have to cut the fan shroud up to make it clear the located in a different spot fan.

Then you will have to get a multi grill gaurd and side panels so the hood won't bash the top going down the road. Even after all of that, your hood will look kind of goofy because the head light surrounds are just a hair different.

Sure, a multi radiator can be made to work in a gasser. By the time you make it fit though, you will probably money and lots of time ahead to have just bought one.