Lady Grey's radiator has aged a lot

It's time for a new radiator for Lady Grey. I knew it was not in tip top condition and the last trips where no fun either with all these little bricks flying around in Italy. Also on the Germany Highway we had 10miles of work in progress where dust and stones were in the majority to punch into to front.

I was scratching my left ear when I took this out.. at least 20% less cooling IMHO and was impressed that the elements of nature took so much force on it the last two years. When I got her 3 years back only 5% was affected. Had this number still in my mind when I did the center pipes last spring and actually didn't look at the condition of the radiator.

While we are at it I will dissemble the front and paint the tube structure. I also discovered that the Lady took a small hit on the driver's front wing, which I suspected already when I did the buy, but I can now confirm it. Funny how you get to know your Lady when you take bits and pieces off for replacement or a rebuild. It's becomes your second soul

Anyway here is the damage of this moment. Bring it away for a recore and not sure how much it will be. My intention was to hand it over up side down and ask for an indication, but the smarties in Maranello put also Ferrari on the bottom! :EEK:

The message to the radiator guy will be loud and clear "DO NOT PAINT IT!" I like to retain the stamps.
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Had a phone chat with Bart yesterday as I wanted to know if it was a copper core. so it is. Btw luckily he found the reason for the debris in the little channels. I will leave it up to him what it was

Went to a specialist in Amsterdam today and they ask 500 euro without painting... They never seen a split in the core so I would not have any trust in them, besides the fact that t I think the prices is to high.

I will go to a trusted address, but the problem is that the old lad (in his 70ties) opens his business whenever he feels like

I'm with you that it can be seen as an upgrade, but I find the alloy ones so darn ugly, but they are effective for sue and you will save half the weight 6 kilos is a lot! However, I decided to go old skool if it were only to see the old lad in action. Sometimes the bonnet is also open on car days and the old radiators have a very nice old touch.

We do not realize it, but these radiators have really an Italian design and the real specialist will tell you at once this is not from a regular street car

I do want to make a change. I want to have the split gone since it only creates rust unless the old man says no can't do. It will be his decision. Hopefully he opens the door tomorrow.

 

Small update. Went to another specialist and they count 600 euro to replace the core. He knew exactly what he was looking at eventhough I didn't mentioned it holding it my hands covering the brand. That's either from a Ferrari or Masarati he said. Obviously I couldn't say something different other then to say it was indeed from a fast Fiat. (That is a small joke we always say here) I said I will think about it, not having visited the Old man's business yet.

Today the old chap was around and he did his say and gave an honest answer. He could not rebuild it for less then 600 euro. The reason was that the core is special and only used in old italian supercars. There is only one supplier in NL for this core and he does not get a discount anymore since he does not buy a lot anymore like he used to.

He refered me to to another company that already exist 50 years doing radiators where the gents having the same age as him, but still running a full business. So I went out this morning bringing the radiotor and I was kindly welcomed by the 2 older gentlemen. One said "Oh Nice a Ferrari radiator". It gives me a good feeling that they see which car it comes from, but at the same time I realise it will not be cheap He looked at it like real technitions do rubbing and feeling it. Then he said, what do you want with it as there are several options.

1. Very Expensive. Recular cooling, like it is now (Spanish way) These radiators are made in Spain and even stamped on the radiator
2. Expensive. better cooling (Italian way)
3. Regular price. Best cooling. (German way)

He showed me some examples and prices and I said I want the best cooling and that last the longest. So he said the German way it is then. However, there is a but. The colored stamps will mostlikely not survice the heat. He will try, but no quarrantees.

and the price... Almost half the named prices The nice thing to see is that these gents enjoy working on radiators and every radiator has a tail.

The coolest thing is that I can watch how the will do it and can take pictures doing their work. On Monday or Tuesday I will get a call that they will start. They need to wait for the new core from Germany.

 

Old skool technigues so soldering it will be. Looking at their work, they had some work done, nicely ordered in a special rack, they are the artists of radiator work. Almost all old stuff that needed to be repaired and it looks like new.

btw the weight figure of the current Mondial radiatior. It weights 12,3kg (27.1 pounds). Now I am hoping with a new core it will be less.

 

It's near Amsterdam, but they do work sent by courier. Unless you are landing from South Amerika in Amsterdam on your way back to Belgium! Or if you just drop by I'll make sure Italian coffee is ready

Revisie | Bijl Radiateuren

 

haha! What can I say.. his wife runs the office so why bother to go home and use the kiln as stoof 24x7 on 500 degrees.

 

Today the gentlemen started the process to put in the new core.

These gentlemen are so skilled in their field that no one can surpass them in the routine that they gained over the years. It seems easy, but too hot and the tin drops away, not hot enough it will not flow correctly.

They get every now and then also work of oil drilling sea platforms. Royal companies like Shell also known for their quality. These platform radiators are 2 by 2 metres and have processed 600kg copper in them. I have seen a picture and I can say that it looks impressive!

Now my coolant liquid was pretty clean when I tapped it first time, but you can see (Photo 1) that you need to get a new core at some point or at least dismantle it for cleaning. Pieces of rubber from a bad cooling hose and other large debris clogs in the openings of the channels. This is fairly normal for a radiator that has done service for 30 years.

Photo 2 old core.
Photo 3 new core.

This new core is German made and in this setting it gives the radiator 15% more cooling than the old setting. Building of slats is different and the flow through the channels. The original paint stamps survived the heat and I am already happy! I will paint the radiator myself and you would think to use a primer first, but on the advice of the gentlemen you should never do that. When a primer is applied the cooling will be 10% less! So never use a primer layer..

The work done has happened on a workbench that hasn't been moved for over 6 decades. There is talk of succession within the family, which will be the third generation. The knowledge and experience of this art will not be lost .
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Find out how the stamps are preserved

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMCQrIoSAP0[/ame]

 

Some personal circumstances kept me away from Lady Grey, but tomorrow I will lay some hands on her again. I repainted the radiator and the stamps are preserved. I ordered the side foam as they were too affected by mother nature's elements.

She will get an antirust treatment under the nose, this is why I took off the bumper. Having removed it all I saw she took a hit on the driver's side in the past. I recorded it for in her maintenance book and this hit seems from at least 20 years back if not earlier. I do need to replace a frame piece since it is beyond sanding possibilities and weld in a new piece. I always suspected she got a hit as there was an odd space on the bottom between the front fender and the door. The fifth pic it shows clearly that the has been some after welding. The horns will also get an overhaul
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No, it is not needed for only the radiator. It's a while I am in there project, refurbishing the front framework. You can't do the whole framework when the radiator is in especially the lower cup mounts which fix the radiator.

 

Just need to apply some clear coat over the stamps.
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