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, Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:19:42
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Paul - -
I've had excellent luck patching holes in the tubes of aluminum radiators by first cleaning the exterior well with solvent, then detergent and water, and also of course draining the radiator below the hole and rinsing all antifreeze etc. off the area, then prying back fins so the hole is plain, then daubing a particular 3m two-part epoxy product, DP 420, on, trying to key a little down into the hole and making sure to get it onto the outside all around. Doesn't matter if you seal off some of the fins with it but you should keep it fairly local.
This is a far superior epoxy, with great bonding strength to metal, especially to steel but good enough to aluminum to work. It stays slightly gummy and flexible.
Comes in unequal diameter tubes as mix is not 50-50. You need to buy 3M's metal trigger dispenser too, or make up some crazy rig to depress both pistons equally. DON'T buy the mixing nozzles, they use vast amounts of glue that stays inside and is wasted, and this happens every time you use it as that nozzle has to be thrown away.
Can get it from 3M industrial distributors and I'm sure somewhere online. Its steel-to-steel bonding strength is very impressive.
3M body panel adhesive, black epoxy that comes in a massive duo-pak, will probably also work and it's great for attaching and sealing body patches if you ever have to fix rust.
I'm about 90 percent sure that silicone sealer won't work.
If you're trying to deal with cracks in the end tanks, the epoxy might work also if daubed far enough around and maybe keyed into the surface with numerous tiny holes drilled just far enough to make pits. Also thick enough to have some strength of its own to resist tank pressure opening the seam.
If it's leaks around where end caps and aluminum meet, you might be able to seal that by just recrimping the aluminum tabs. There's a neoprene gasket inside that the plastic is pressed against. Daubing epoxy on here might help too.
posted by 71.173.89...
, Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:19:42
, Fri, 24 Feb 2012 06:25:20
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