Dino radiator foam

the foam touches the top of the radiator when closed....
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Hi Eugene,
I used contact cement.
It's pretty easy, though a tad awkward if you are doing this with hood in situ. Even though the foam lines up naturally when butted up against the vent gutters, you may want to draw a light chalk line with a straight edge on the underside of the hood to use as a guide. Dry fit the foam first (notch it at each end to lay over the hood frame tubing).
I don't recall if I applied glue to both hood and foam or just one. Take your time to get the foam lined up once the glue is ready; you will likely have only one shot at getting it straight...especially if you coated both surfaces!
Good luck and let us know how it works out.
Cheers,
Coop

 

Did they use foam on the early 246 L-series as well?

Regards Peter

 

Tip: If it gets wet it will rust the top of your radiator.

Consider leaving the hood up after a wet drive.

 

Yes, all of our cars had it.

 

Radiators are not made of sheetmetal steel. Brass all the way.

Regards, Alberto

 

?? Is the top of Dino radiator something other than brass ? Mild steel perhaps, since you're suggesting it being prone to rusting ?
Also, I'm not familiar with this foam air-dam on Dinos, but most vintage cars I've seen using foams for similar applications, the foam is usually "closed cell"-type not prone to absorb moisture like "open cell" foam.
Was the O.E.M. foam used for this application on Dinos "closed cell" or "open cell" ?
The photo posted by Matthias appears to feature foam that looks more like "open cell".

 

https://www.amazon.com/Shurtape-DF-545-Double-Coated-Carpet/dp/B00I8ZU7XE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1472412368&sr=8-4&keywords=double+sided+cloth+tape


I used this to attach it. We used this in our presses (heated presses) and it held up very well. Bought the foam (open cell) at Home Depot. It's sold to fill the gap when you install a window air conditioner. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-King-E-O-1-1-4-in-x-1-1-4-in-x-42-in-Foam-Air-Conditioner-Weatherstrip-AC42H/100059869

although if you want to get fancy, try here: http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-foam-sheets/=13xb4i9



Hey URO, did you have to re-attach the foam at any point, or is it still holding up?

D

 

Foam is still there fine.

I had a busted hose with a big hiss, steam everywhere.

Top of radiator corroded. Looked like rust but maybe not.

I need to take another look to see of it is brass, hopefully,

 

This is a soft foam, not a styrofoam.

It isn't open or closed cell, more like a packing foam.....

Not as complex as you would think

Shawn

 

The tanks on the radiator are brass as are the cooling fins. The top of the rad (i.e. the part that has 'FIM' Stamped on it) is mild steel as is the strip of metal that runs along the bottom.

The foam is open-cell as others have pointed out. (The Home Depot stuff looks about right). One other detail is that the foam is not cut straight, rather it curves in a smooth radius at either end.

Best Regards,
Paul

 

When I pulled my (surprisingly heavy) radiator several years ago to have it rebuilt, this is what I discovered:

It appeared to be the proper FIM Forcellini, Bologna, Italy unit. As you can see, there was rust on the top & bottom frame pieces. The magnet liked them. The core fins appeared to have serious rust issues and were very fragile. The magnet liked them. The core tubes looked a bit better. The magnet liked them. I determined that it had to be a carbon steel core radiator. No wonder it was so heavy! (I kept it for posterity.)

At any rate, after much research, I opted for copper/brass vice the increasingly popular aluminum option. (Steel? Not!) The shop that did the rebuild found a new core listed for a vintage Mercedes that had the same fin count and nearly replicated the FIM design. The brass tanks and steel upper/lower frame were mated to the new core. It has the right look, fits perfectly, cools just fine...and doesn't weigh a ton!

Changing gears, I have not figured out how to shrink the picture size, so I can only attach one at a time. I will do three more posts.

Cheers,
Coop
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Core up close.
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Bottom frame plate.
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Fins at bottom.
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Oh, here's what the tubes looked like.
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Stand corrected....

Regards, Alberto

 

Thank you for informative and well presented comments and photos, something one can actually learn from. After learning the orientation of the (brass) tanks and (steel) support brackets being different than in vast majority of vintage car radiators makes thing easier to understand.
Have a question, though. Can you (or some one) confirm the materials for all different OEM core components, i.e. fins, tubes and tube end plates ? You stated the fins and tubes in your "old" (OEM ?) core were steel, which I find rather odd.

 

My '74 GTS has steel has top and bottom plates and steel fins but I would be surprised if the tubes were steel.

 

Pronto Timo,
Thanks for your kind words.
When I touched the magnet to the end of the tubes depicted in the fifth pic, I was surprised that there was a mild attraction. Though rather scuzzy, the tubes don't appear to have rusted (inside or out...see pic two, too!)? It's possible that the magnet was drawn to the steel fins attached to the tubes. The tanks had just been removed when the picture was taken. The old core has since been sitting outside, exposed to the elements for several years. I would expect surface rust to have developed if they are mild steel. I'll mosey out to the rose garden to scan the sad old core visually and magnetically.
'back with you in a while,
Coop

 

Yup. The tubes are not rusty...inside or out...and the magnetic attraction was a figment of my imagination! I was using a somewhat heavy magnet; what I perceived as magnetism was merely gravity. Unless they are stainless steel (not likely), I imagine them to be copper (yes likely).

Timo: So much for accurate information.

Cheers,
Coop

 

Coop,

Thank you for taking time to thoroughly assess and confirm these details. If more contributors to discussions and forums like this would attempt even half the similar efforts, they could help produce a lot closer to accurate and more useful information.

Timo