Technical ‘55 Brass Radiator Technique

Looking to get a polished brass finish like the one shown (not mine) and take out the dents. Not looking for perfect, more quick and clean looking.

 

If the dents are really bad, you will have to get a radiator repair shop to remove the top tank, so you can straighten them out, then have it resoldered back on.
On saying that, polished brass looks nice, but the black paint helps dissapate the heat better..

 

That would be a great radiator to learn on. Looks like it hasn't been on a car for a while. And the white stains in the core make me think that it leaks, and is not repairable. But I could be wrong, maybe it's just fine.

You could take it to a radiator shop and have it checked for leaks, and flow.

If you have the radiator shop remove the tank for you, then you can work on the dents. Good luck!

 

Yes and yes. Came with a frame and has set for who knows how long. Has a cut support bar with a reinforcement added. Hope to try and mount it on my hardtop with a one piece glass front end. Thanks.

 

Been there done that. Looks good for a while, but hard to keep it that way. I never did get the little radii and corners right and the areas around the cap and core.

 

You have to periodically re-polish it with Brass polish or similar compound but I agree, it looks nice. It was popular to do back in the 50s-60s in my area. Here is mine needing polishing again:


I first used paint remover then Mother's polishing compound. Mine was fairly easy since it was a new radiator.

 

The Navy is big on polishing brass. Once you take the paint off it's a never ending job to keep it nice. We used Never Dull ,a cotton wadding with some solvent soaked into it. You can also use Brasso. Good Luck

 

Given all the Brasso I used in the Army, no more brass for me. JMO

 

might as well have the brkt's unsoldered too-you are going to want it v 8 styled later

 

X2 everything @56don said.

Here's my ol' 55 Chevy. Pay no attention to the ribbed chrome hoses.

 

My dad told me they took a lot of the brass wheels and brass gee gaws & stuff from the submarine he served on, said they got sick of polishing them and went somewhere and got them chromed. Everybody thought they looked slick, and it was easy to keep shiny. Then, they had an inspection, and they really blew a gasket over that.

 

They "improved" Brasso anyway, it doesn't work like it used to.

 

In the service (Navy) when inspection came I just bought a new buckle.............
Paul in CT

 

Man Gary that is an amazing shine! Mine never looked that nice, and I never did like the area where the sides were soldered to the tank.

 

Yours looks to be a stock Cellucore (sp.) radiator and your example is a tube type with an original brass tank. The Cellucore rads are hard to fix, the leaks just keep leaking beyond the "fix". Most shops just plug the row from top to bottom, not worth using. The old brass tanks have expanded and contracted over the years and will stress crack over time, again not worth investing in unless very solid. JMO again!

 

sounds like bigrat has some experience with the old Harrison radiators, as well.

 

14 Years in a Radiator shop just makes a guy gun shy of the older radiators that have lived a full life! There's always exceptions and I to have polished a few for my own tri fives...…………...

 

Over the years a lot of my cars had that polished top tank and polishing it was just part of spiffing up everything under the hood. Back then it was Brasso or SimiChrome and plenty of elbow grease. My cars also had (and have) magnesium Halibrands so I’m not to proud to do some cleaning. These days there are better choices for polishing, I use Wax Depot liquid metal polish on previously polished surfaces.
My current ‘56 Chevy has an aluminum radiator, if I wasn’t busy with other projects (and expenses) it would be gone and a shiny brass version bolted in there.


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Most of the paint is off. Next step? Can i use a wire wheel or ? to remove the rest? Thanks.

 

Don't use a wire brush if you plan to polish it.

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You can buy a brass bristle brush, less aggressive than a steel wire brush. What about polishing the brass, then spraying a clear coat over it?

 

0000 steel wool would be better than a wire brush.

 

Amen, brother. I musta worn a hole through my belt buckle keeping it polished

 

I was wondering about clear coating the polished tank too.

 

Rain today so cleaned the paint stripper off with 000 or 0000 steel wool and some ajax sprinkled on. Exposed previous repair. Some of the excess solder came off, assume I can use heat to get any other spots.

Suggestions for next step? Brasso?

 

Brasso in it's current guise is good for an almost completely polished finish but not much else.

Grab a fluffy cotton cloth and a pot of Mothers Mag & Alloy polish from the auto parts store and get it buffed up with that, then finish off with Brasso. The Mothers stuff is a bit more aggressive.

Phil

 

Last photo. Used a foam pad, chrome polish then Brasso. Nowhere near the others but thought this turned out ok. I will use it at least for mock up. Have a ‘glass front so I removed the (already cut) braces. As always thanks gor all the comments.

 

We were always fond of never dull in the coast guard.

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""never ending job to keep it nice""

Remember the above.