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Metal strips at radiator top


Cold Blue

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The metal strips at the top of the radiator are to support rubber strips to close the gap between the radiator and the hood. 

Maybe it's not rubber but something stiffer, but resilient against the bottom of the hood.  I haven't figured what to use on my car, but it's way down on the to-do list. 

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The metal strips do indeed support a rubber fin that is meant to close the gap between the radiator and the hood. This purpose is to deflect the air coming via the grille thru the radiator and not up and over.

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Wow! I never would have guessed that. Now the question is - where in the heck would I find something like that??? I guess fab something? Maybe some fairly stiff rubber cut to fit and then screwed to the metal strips? The metal strips do not have holes in them for the "wind deflectors", so I guess the originals press fitted to the metal strips. Does anybody have a picture of what they should look like?  Thanks!!!

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There is a template in the downloads section.  It seems their installation was sparodic.  Some got, others didn't.  Curiously, they were stapled on (mine were). Yours don't seem to have the witness punctures so maybe yours was not so equipped.  They supposedly seal against the underside of the hood to direct all air through the radiator.  Check the hood for any sighs of rub marks.  The template works for both sides one one way and the other side flipped.  I replaced mine with some rubberized canvass that was kicking around.  The originals were the rubber about as thick as an inner tube.

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19 minutes ago, Cold Blue said:

Wow! I never would have guessed that. Now the question is - where in the heck would I find something like that??? I guess fab something? Maybe some fairly stiff rubber cut to fit and then screwed to the metal strips? The metal strips do not have holes in them for the "wind deflectors", so I guess the originals press fitted to the metal strips. Does anybody have a picture of what they should look like?  Thanks!!!

 

The original rubbers were stapled to the steel in your photos.

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42 minutes ago, greg g said:

There is a template in the downloads section.  It seems their installation was sparodic.  Some got, others didn't.  Curiously, they were stapled on (mine were). Yours don't seem to have the witness punctures so maybe yours was not so equipped.  They supposedly seal against the underside of the hood to direct all air through the radiator.  Check the hood for any sighs of rub marks.  The template works for both sides one one way and the other side flipped.  I replaced mine with some rubberized canvass that was kicking around.  The originals were the rubber about as thick as an inner tube.

Just checked the hood - no rub marks at all. And no witness punctures on the metal strips. So mine was not equipped. I will look at the template and see what it looks like. I checked on-line and no one has them that I could find - Steele Rubber did have one but it was for earlier cars and not a 48......and it was very pricey. I am thinking about removing the metal tabs on the radiator and not putting the metal pieces back on....we'll see.  One thing that bothers me about those metal strips - every time I need to stretch over the radiator to work on something those strips are very uncomfortable on the stomach....

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There are brackets welded to top of the radiator to attach those metal fins.   I recently replaced my original radiator with an aluminum model....so

now no place to attach the fins.  However a welding shop can make attaching pieces if a person wants to go to the trouble and expense.  Seems as if my

new rad heats up more quickly than the original.......wonder if the fins would direct a bit more air through it.  

 

Edited by BobT-47P15
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I had mine off to paint them and I also cleaned and polished the brass rad top the same time. with the rad looking so nice I was contemplating leaving the finsoff but those damn brackets would always be a reminder that so.ething was missing lol.

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33 minutes ago, woodrow said:

I had mine off to paint them and I also cleaned and polished the brass rad top the same time. with the rad looking so nice I was contemplating leaving the finsoff but those damn brackets would always be a reminder that so.ething was missing lol.

Yeah, if I decide to leave those metal fins off, I think I will cut the brackets off too. I hate to do that, but I think the radiator looks kinda strange with those metal fins. I couldn't figure out what the heck they were for. I think I saw your post where you had paint-stripped the radiator top cap and polished up the brass. Looked really great! I think I just might do that too. If I do, the brackets have got to go.

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Bobt-47P15,

   Welding to your aluminum radiator’s one option. However, you could fabricate brackets – one end connected to the original ones that the rubber’s affixed to, and the other end connected to the top of the core-support. A tho’t . . .

 

   OR - a single bracket that spans the radiator, but doesn't connect to it, running from 1 side of the radiator to the other side, connecting at each end of the single bracket to the core support. It'd probably be a good idea to put a piece of rubber in between the new bracket and the radiator, so as not to have the bracket abrade thru the radiator tank. Another tho't . . .

Edited by DrDoctor
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10 hours ago, BobDeSoto said:

51 DeSoto has a continuous metal piece from side to side and then the rubber gasket stapled to the steel.  

For the life of me I just can't see how you could staple something to a sheet metal flat plate. Must be one hell of a stapler! 

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I don't know how they actually stapled through the steel.  Most of the staples had pulled through and tore slots in the rubber.  The staples are still in the steel. 

I pop riveted the rubber back on using the staples to align the rubber.  

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BobDeSoto.

   From what I’ve been told by a former patient who worked at a GM factory his entire adult life – the stapler used by the factory uses larger diameter, and harder, wire. The staple’s driven into the thin metal, which is typically abit softer than the staple, exactly perpendicular to the metal, by means of a “foot” (much like a sewing machine foot) holding the work-piece in place during the actual stapling action.

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