Flathead V-8

[gbritnell]

When I cut all the spacer bushings I used a cutoff tool with a slight angle on the tip so it wouldn't leave a burr on the piece, which worked, but I still had to file and slightly deburr the inside edges so they would slip over the tubes. It's one of those jobs that is extremely boring and time consuming but there's no other way around it.
I kept up the process until the entire core was assembled. Now I started feeding the other tubes into the core. As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts on the radiator build the stack of fins had distorted a little while drilling. This lead to a small shift in some of the holes. By that I mean a couple of thousands here and there. Just enough to prevent the tubes from sliding in place. To remedy the situation I put a 3/16 machine reamer into my drill and cleaned out all the holes.

[gbritnell]

The radiator tanks are machined from solid brass. In years past I had made a set of dies to try and press out the tanks but the shape caused the metal to buckle at the corners. It's not that they weren't usable but they just didn't look good. I tried to replicate the recesses that are normally pressed into the tanks. This was in the old days when the tanks were made from brass and not plastic like today's tanks. I also finished the radiator cap and neck. The cap will have a spring loaded valve like it's larger counterpart. The cap was machined from 303 stainless while the neck is made from brass. I also had a few remaining Ford logo plates in my spares box so I machined all the extra metal away leaving just the skeleton script intact. This will get soldered onto the front of the tank when finished.
gbritnell

[b.lindsey]

That is a lot of tedious work George, but the results sure show it off well and make it all worthwhile. Even the radiator is a thing of beauty!!

Bill

[kvom]

You should have posted earlier.  I have a 12" bar of 1.5" square brass that was yours for a lot less than $45.  I bought a whole bunch of brass years ago for $2/pound.

[Don1966]

I know to well how much work it takes to get to this point George and I salute you for all your efforts. Do you have photos of making the radiator tank? I would really enjoy seeing them. You my friend keep inspiring me with your every post. Thank you for taking the time to share your work with us.

Don

[fumopuc]

Hi George, this radiaror and its tank makes me speachless. Great in all details, functional and optical.

[ICEpeter]

Hello George,
I have been following your post since it started and I must say I am totally impressed with your top level workmanship and outstanding quality of work. Simply brilliant!

Peter J.

[mnay]

Amazing work.  Thanks for letting see how you do it.  Inspiring ..........
Mike

[Art K]

George,
I don't know what to say, your radiators are as well detailed as your engines. I will remember this when I make a water cooled engine.
Art

[gbritnell]

I finished machining the top tank today. I started by cutting the stock to the overall sizes. When I did the bottom tank I cut the inside out first and then had to use an adjustable parallel inside to support it for the outside machining. On this one I left the inside for last and started on the outside. I cut all the recesses on the sides and top and knowing how much hand work I had to do on the bottom tank I set this one up in a V-block to take some of the extra stock off. It worked very well. With the outside shapes cut I turned it over and cut out the inside, stepping up the ends to match the 30 degree angle on the outside.

[gbritnell]

Here are four pictures showing the sequence of forming the radius on the corners of the recessed area.
The first step was file the outside edges with a small pointed round file to match the existing fillet that was formed with the end mill.
Next was to file the inside material with a small pillar file. I used the pillar file so I wouldn't remove any of the corner radius.
I then used a small flat file that has a small radius on the edges and cleaned up the corners.
The last picture shows the radius gauge sitting on the corner radius.

[gbritnell]

This last set of pictures shows the tank after the final filing and sanding. When I did the bottom tank I used a 3 corner scraper to knock of the edges of the recesses. This was painstaking as I had to be careful not to gouge the surrounding area. For the top tank I took a different approach. For cleaning up fillets where I can't get in with a file I have used old Xacto blades that have a radius ground on them. The blades aren't super hard but they're good enough for brass or aluminum. For the tank I ground one with a double radius, one for the bottom and one for the corner of the recess. By carefully dragging it along the edge if formed a nice radius. After sanding it came out nice and smooth.
I fitted the filler neck to the tank and took a couple of more pictures.
Tomorrow the soldering starts.
gbritnell

[Don1966]

Thanks George that's the photos I wanted to see. That is awesome bud. One thing I found was that using the Foredom with diamond burrs works great, as they don't cut deep and fast. So you can feather your cutting rate and gives a smooth finish.

Don

[b.lindsey]

A great sequence of pictures George and very descriptive of the process. Don...the diamond burrs sound like a good idea as well...do you have a link for a source of them and which handpiece are you using them in?

Bill

[Don1966]

A great sequence of pictures George and very descriptive of the process. Don...the diamond burrs sound like a good idea as well...do you have a link for a source of them and which handpiece are you using them in?

Bill

Hi Bill, I use the H30 hand piece but I have the H8 on order it's a slimmer hand piece and comes with 3/32 and 1/8 collets, you can also use them in the Dremel. I have a foot speed control for my Foredom that I use to slow the process down when I need to. This is the link http://www.micromark.com/30-piece-diamond-coated-micro-burr-set,7933.html
I also have this work station if anyone is interested in it. A little pricey but worth it. http://www.foredom.net/lightedworkchambermalc15.aspx