Mice nests in radiator

[olympiab]

I bought a really nice 1948 radiator for our project car. Mice had made an earlier down payment and had lived there for many years. Radiator repair shop wanted nothing to do with it. After the judicious use of a coat hanger I managed to get about a gallon pail's worth out. Any suggestions as to what kind of liquid I should let soak in it until spring?

[Merle Coggins]

Good luck with that radiator. I don't want to discourage you, but when I got my truck it had been partially disassembled. I also found that the mice had taken up residency in the radiator top tank. I removed what I could, then flushed and back flushed the radiator until I couldn't stand it any longer. I then took it to a radiator shop. They put it in their dip tank to clean it out and then found that the acids from the mouse excrement had eaten away the top of the core and made it unrepairable. They were able to salvage the tanks and recore it with a modern tube and fin core for around $365.

I hope you have better luck than I had.

Merle

[olympiab]

I hope so too Merle

[greg g]

turn it upside down and run water through it till it clears out.

[mikesinky]

i hope you have better luck than me too. i flushed and flushed mine til i thought i had it in good shape. then when i started driving it it overheated cost me a head gasket and warped head. had to have radiator recored. my advice would be to do it now like the guy told me those tubes are small to begin with and 60 years of setting rusting away stops them up really easy. just my opinion

[JBNeal]

MC hit the nail on the head: rat carp ate a hole in a metal tool box I had stashed in the barn; all the tools that were chrome-plated, including the Craftsman wrenches, were rusty & etched after they did their business.

[Frank Elder]

MC hit the nail on the head: rat carp ate a hole in a metal tool box I had stashed in the barn; all the tools that were chrome-plated, including the Craftsman wrenches, were rusty & etched after they did their business.

Uric????acid in urine is very strong if you let it sit.

[old stovebolt]

I bought a really nice 1948 radiator for our project car. Mice had made an earlier down payment and had lived there for many years. Radiator repair shop wanted nothing to do with it. After the judicious use of a coat hanger I managed to get about a gallon pail's worth out. Any suggestions as to what kind of liquid I should let soak in it until spring?

Treat it like a sewer pipe and put some Draino or similar product in it.

Cap one opening of the radiator and leave the other one open. I would do this project in the dirt so you can flush it out when you are done. I would probably

wear gloves, face shield and some aspect of a respirator. Good luck.