bkahler

Great work Bill! A good looking steering wheel really sets the tone for the cab. I should mention I don't like sanding so I took the lazy way out and found a NOS wheel Brad

$753.66 later I walked out of the radiator shop with a rebuilt radiator this morning A little more than was expecting but I can't really complain. I'm lucky to have a good old school radiator shop less than 10 miles from my house. They are really good at building radiators but their painting skills are not quite on par with their rebuilding skills. After I took these pictures I applied a coat of radiator paint to one side and tomorrow I'll do the other side. Needless to say I'm looking forward to getting the radiator installed for the final time. Oh yeah, I also just finished moving the manifold nuts, washers and studs around to match the diagram Bill supplied. Brad

And I thought my current 24 years was absurd, you guys are making me feel almost normal.....

That was a good solution to the sending unit problem.

It looks like I'll have about the same amount or less in rebuilding this radiator compared to buying a new replacement. It is nice that there are places you can still get a drop in radiator even if it doesn't look quite right, if it functions that is certainly better than the alternative. Thanks! Brad

The seller did suggest that stop leak might work but he wasn't sure. I suppose if I filled the radiator with stop leak it might have worked, not sure how well it would have cooled though! The seller didn't try to miss lead me or anything, I pretty much knew what I was getting when I bought it. From my perspective, even finding a radiator within striking distance was a minor miracle. At best I was hoping to be able to find something and have it shipped which wouldn't have been cheap either. I guess the diesel I used to get there and back was the shipping cost. But, I did enjoy the drive and I got to see a nice 49 1/2 ton, a 55 or 56 1/2 ton and all the other bits and pieces he was selling. So yeah, it was a good day

DCM Classics has replacement sending units. I think they have two styles, original and a modern conversion. I opted for the modern conversion for my truck. It was a drop in replacement. Brad

From what I understand the honey comb cores are no longer available. However, I found a source in Australia that is now reproducing them. They bought the equipment from some shop and started making them. But, there's always a but, their online estimator for a core for my radiator came back as $2800 Australian dollars plus shipping. Still, that's $2000 US plus shipping. A tad more than I care to spend

He told me it leaked before I drove down there so I knew there were problems. It does leak a lot more than I figured it would but once the core is bad it doesn't matter how many holes there are, a leak is a leak. As far as I know the cores are called honey combs. Do a search on the term and you'll find lots of info. I like the look of the cores also but getting two good tanks and the mounting flanges at least lets me get the rest of it right.

That was the first thing I checked! Unfortunately the cores are different sizes. The Desoto is a 1/2" wider and the 49 is 2" or 3" longer so there's no chance of a swap. Good thought though!

I dropped the radiator off at the shop and asked them to check it out. While I was standing there he lowered it into the coolant tank and applied a low pressure to it. There were more bubbles streaming out of the fins than when a submarine blows it's ballast tanks. He said the core was shot but the tanks were good. He's going to order a new core which he said might take a week or two. Apparently he's having a hard time ordering anything right now because no one's working. I won't know price until he can talk to the supplier but he was guessing around $600. Regardless of price it needs a new core so not much I can say about it. Brad

JB's comment about plugging the drain port at the bottom sounds rather appealing. I can't remember the last time I actually used a drain cock to drain a radiator. My TR4 didn't have one and I just pulled the hose from the bottom when it was time to flush the cooling system. I think that solves the problem nicely Thanks! Brad

Bill, thanks for the info! I'll have to look at my service manual again. I didn't notice that detail in there previously. One of these days I'll get things right Brad

JB, could you post a picture of one of your drain cocks? On the radiator I just bought the drain port is at 90 degrees and actually points towards the fender. I think accessing the knob on the drain cock would be difficult in it's current orientation. Thanks! Brad

Interesting. I do have them installed but they are on the top row, four center studs. That's where they were when I dismantled the engine years ago. Is there documentation somewhere that shows where they are supposed to go? Thanks! Brad

I figured the smart thing to do would be to install the radiator to make sure there weren't any surprises The only thing that seems a little odd is the drain cock location. It's in kind of an awkward spot for access. At a minimum I think it needs to rotate a little more so it's pointing down. Fan clearance to core is about 3/4" to 1". However, the radiator mounting saddle is pushed all the way towards the motor so that gap can be increased and I'm assuming once the sheetmetal is installed that will dictate where the saddle will end up. Needless to say I'm hoping the radiator shop can fix it up! Brad

After a beautiful drive over the Cumberland mountains and back I managed to come home with a radiator. The part number on the radiator doesn't seem to match any in JB's list of radiators but I know it came out of a 49 1/2 ton truck. The seller opted to replace it with an aluminum radiator instead of trying to get it fixed. The following pictures pretty much show what it's like. Can anyone make out what the part number is? I come up with ??95181. Sometime this week I'll run it by the radiator shop to see what they can do with it. What's interesting is the core is about 1" narrower than the Desoto and about 2" or so taller. I didn't compare thickness. Brad

The way my luck has been going lately on this truck something had to go my way for a change!

Fan distance to core was the clue I needed. Currently mine is 3-5/8" from fan blade to core. Looking closer at some pictures I just found the difference. The truck radiators have the face of the mounting flange out past the front of the radiator. On the Desoto radiator the flange is about in the middle of the radiator. Surprisingly, earlier this evening I found a gentleman on ebay that was selling a 1-1/2 ton radiator from a 52 truck. However buried in his listing for that radiator was the comment that he had a radiator for a 49 1/2 ton available also. So I contacted him and he sent pictures (shown below). He's only two hours drive from me so I'm heading down there tomorrow morning to have a look and if it's in the shape he says it's in I'll probably buy it. If it's not then possibly the radiator shop can relocate the mounting flanges to make the Desoto radiator work. I'll know by noon tomorrow Thanks! Brad

Well, original would be nice. I thought the Desoto radiator was good enough until finding that the hose configuration is jacked. The worst part is the fan blade comes really close to hitting the hose when I place it between the two fittings. I wish I had pictures from before I tore it down but the camera I used wasn't sufficient and worse, I've lost some pictures. I don't like those flex hoses either. I think with the fan blade being so close one of those would make things even worse. I'm going to check at the local parts store to see what they have in 1-3/4" hoses that aren't stiff as a board. Splicing a hose is definitely an option, especially in the short term. I am going to post a wanted add shortly, who knows I might get lucky! Besides, my luck has to change one of these days Thanks! Brad

There are some days when staying in bed would be a better option. Should have done that today..... A while back JB pointed out that my radiator was actually a Desoto radiator. As it turns out the Desoto radiator is not a direct bolt in replacement. Actually it bolts in place just fine. The top outlet just doesn't line up correctly. Unfortunately it's been way to long for me to remember what the radiator hose configuration was when I got the truck. The serial number of the motor that was in the truck was RBM10917 which I assume is a rebuilt motor. What I don't remember is what the thermostat housing looked like on that engine. I found a motor from a 52 with the correct engine T306 and the correct head for a 51 so the radiator hose configuration needs to fit that combination. The only picture I have that even remotely shows what the top of the radiator looked like is this picture. It was originally taken in 320x240 resolution so detail is nonexistent. It appears the radiator hose is angled quite a bit which means the hose was probably a very poor fit on the radiator outlet. The hose shown in the picture below is one ordered from Roberts 20+ years ago for a 51. If it was another 2" to 3" longer and more flexible I might be able to force into place but I don't really like that idea. Brad

Bill, thanks for the info. I went ahead and removed the nuts and just welded two new ones in place at the top only this time on the inside!

Going through this for the exact same color right now. 1951 Dodge Truck Dark Green Brad

Bill, after you mentioned clips I looked closer at the parts manual and for the lower two pairs of holes on the front of the brace it doesn't show weld nuts. Do you know what panel(s) use those clips you mentioned for mounting? JB, I don't think a battering ram is the works but a spike sounds kinda cool I think what I'll do is remove all six of those nuts and weld two new ones in place on the back side top. My guess is what happened years ago is the two two nuts broke loose on disassembly and when I went to weld them back in place I just plain put them on the wrong side. And.....my simple mind may have felt that welding four more nuts in place in lieu of the clips was a good idea! Here's what the parts manual shows for weld nuts and where they go.

Who wants to be the first to tell me these nuts are on the wrong side?! I don't remember if I welded them on or if the body man did. 24 years is just to far back for me to remember. I'm pretty sure I need to cut them off and weld new ones on the inside but I'd just like confirmation before I make the effort