Need New Radiator Cap

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  • #233918
    MGLondonRoadste
    Participant

    @mglondonroadste

    My Chevy 283 Fiberfab overheated this past weekend.  It didn’t like sitting in stalled traffic with a closed freeway due to a road rage shooting, and that it had virtually no water in it (my fault for not checking before my ride)

    but my radiator caop does not seal, and I suspect that’s how I lost the water and coolant.  Moss Motors has a TC/TD replacement cap.  Do you think it would fit my set up?  Is there any where else I can look?  The  Moss cap is on sale right now, but it’s still $60!

    My neighbor mechanic thinks the existing radiator is too small for my engine and says we’ll probably have to go to at least a double core for next summer.

     

    #248695
    Dan Rosa
    Participant

    @dan-r

     Odds are the current radiator is a chevette or for small engine.  a double core would be the best way to go. I would stay with the pressure cap for a 283 i do not know what the pressure requirement for 283 is, but ever who re cores the radiator should know, good luck ,Dan

    #248696
    Larry Murphy
    Participant

    @larry-murphy

     MGLR, You will need to use a cap that is designed for the particular radiator that is on the car. If my memory is correct, the Chevrolets with the 283 engine use a 7 and 1/2 lb cap.I do  not think that the TD cap from Moss will fit.

    #248697
    edward ericson
    Participant

    @edsnova

    Needed a 4-core to keep my 350 Nova cool. If I were you I’d look for the biggest, thickest radiator that will fit in the space. I’d look into the reverse flow types that came in the early-mid 1990s. Could need a water pump and some minor head work for that too, but might be the way to keep a rig like yours cool. Whatever new radiator you get, cap it with whatever cap it needs.

    The Moss cap is not for you–you don’t have a TD radiator and you don’t want to have one, either.

    #248698
    MGLondonRoadste
    Participant

    @mglondonroadste

    The current radiator cap is on top of the front grill, so it is chromed and highly visible, a show piece, if you will.  I’m at a loss to find one that would be a suitable replacement.

    Arhg! The VW project is coming along, but not finished.  I thought we were going to have her ready by Thanksgiving, but I gave up on that.  I can only handle so many projects at once!

    I love cars, but I have a lot to learn.

     

    #248699
    Larry Murphy
    Participant

    @larry-murphy

     Are you saying that you actually fill the radiator thru the top of the grill shell? Every front engine replica that I have seen fills under the hood as the radiators all sit back several inches behind the grille.You may have a MGTD radiator and if you do ,the Moss cap may fit it.

    #248700
    edward ericson
    Participant

    @edsnova

    That TD type grill is all a show piece–trick is to not try to make it functional. Get a new radiator–or maybe the old one will even work–with a pressure cap. Route the top-of-chrome, exterior hole to an overflow tank and put any kind of fancy cap you want on that, just for show. The “real” radiator should fit behind/inside and have its own cap, probably off to one side. This should not be a daunting engineering challenge.

    Update:Your grill is probably about 16 inches wide at the top, and the depth is going to be in the neighborhood of 26 inches, max. Bottom of the grill is a bit narrower than the top–14 inches, say. Looking around I don’t see a lot of US V8 radiators in those dimensions. Early Mustangs are about 18.5 inches wide–maybe could work if you could mount it a little back and put a pusher fan in front of it.  . . . AH, here you go: T-Bucket radiators. 16 3/4 inches wide, $200. . . . wait, no–that’s just the core width. Ratsa fratsa cross flow design! We need the top-to-bottom flow, old school design to keep it narrow. ahh-but wait! You can turn the cross flow radiator sideways to make it fit. Should still work OK as long as inlet and outlet pipes are not on the same tank. Talk to your radiator shop professional–Ron Davis, perhaps?–about making the necessary changes to the pipes and filler neck.

    Yeah. . . Everything does take a lot more time then we think it “should.” Usually costs more money too. Makes it all the sweeter on those rare occasions when things work out as planned.

    All in the game though.

    edsnova40918.8544907407

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