• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

I just smashed the bottom of my radiator.

Share this page

RickB

RickB

Yoda
Offline
I went out to jack up the B and put jack stands under it in prep for removing the rotors from the front.
Even though I swear I looked at where the jack was on the cross member several times it still managed to slip off when I had it up there pretty high.
The jack stayed where it was but the car came down & the bottom of the radiator was caved by it.
I knew instantly there was something bad happening due to it bleeding out green all over the street.

So - to repair or replace?

:blush: :madder: :cryin: :pukeface:
 
Depends which is cheeper of course.
 
It was such a good radiator too.
RIP little guy. :thirsty:
 
I'm just glad you weren't hurt. People are killed all the time by cars falling from jacks. A quality floor jack with a large rubber pad is a really good investment to prevent this type of accident. Unfortunately we typically don't realize what a good investment it is until an incident like that costs us more than the jack!

If the damage is only to the lower tank, a radiator shop should have to trouble fixing it up. If the core is also smashed, it may be cheaper to replace the whole thing. Copper is really expensive these days.
 
Seems to be the lower tank only.
I wont know for sure until I get it out of the car.

Here are some close up pics:

radsmush4.jpg


radsmush3.jpg


radsmush2.jpg


radsmush1.jpg
 
Oh, that does not look too bad. Talk to a radiator shop.
 
Nice drip caught in the act too! That looks like it could be heated and straightened out. In case of accident like these I have a few spares around for the 67 and the 74.
 
Same thing happened to me with a '77 B about 20 years ago.

Radiator shop straightened the pan, re-cored then re-soldered everything back together. Essentially a rebuild.

Never had a problem with the unit.

Keep on.
 
Thanks guys.
I fought with the brakes all day, so maybe tomorrow I will remove the rad & see what can be done.
 
Steve,

I've got a really big 3 1/2 ton floor jack I use, it's low profile so I can get it under the B & the Midget too.
I always use stands - once I get the car up in the air.

The jack has about a 6 foot handle, so that's how far away from the car I am when I am jacking it up.

You don't have to have a car fall on you very many times to learn the lesson. Better safe than sorry.
 
Most of the time I use ramps if I am not working on the wheels. I place them in opposite directions so there is no chance of falling off.
 
vping said:
Most of the time I use ramps if I am not working on the wheels. I place them in opposite directions so there is no chance of falling off.
Click to expand...

I tried that once, but I had a heck of a time trying to drive up them...

:laugh:
 
Back
Top