Hey guys,
Just to send an update, I got a call from a local Moss reseller, and the
water pump came in today ($75 delivered!!!) and not ten minutes later, I got
a call from the radiator shop called and my radiator was ready.
I took the radiator in on Saturday to get it cleaned and tested. They
removed the tank, cleaned and flushed the tubes, straightened the fins,
pressure tested, and painted it black for $70. After they finished
everything and put it back together, it was pressure tested again and it
checked out OK. The guy who did the work said they got a lot of "crud" out
of there. I think that this is going to go a long way to cooling the car
down. I felt this was a very reasonable price, and they had it back in two
days. The only bad thing is that they replaced the drain tap with a modern
one, still functional but I'll replace that.
As I said, they painted the radiator black, I know that I will need to paint
the shroud area over the fan, I could tell by my old one that it was red.
Is there a rattle can paint that would match the original?
The Moss reseller I used is located about 15 minutes from me, and any of you
who know how far out of Houston I live realize that that is practically next
door! The shop owner, Ron Redding, is the tech guru of the local MG club
and has a full time restoration shop, 5 R Restorations. He does Healeys as
well as he just sent a 3000 to the paint shop, and has a personal Bugeye
project waiting in the wings.
I have seen a couple of his finished cars in the past, and it is a quality
shop for restoring MGs with several award winning cars. It was fun looking
over the cars he is currently working on, I only wish I could have driven
mine over, but for now, my Healey and Corvair share the lack of a
radiator!!!
On other fronts, I opened up the hole in the tonneau bar slightly and fitted
it to the car for the first time. I forgot to order the center of the dash
Tenax Stud so it isn't snugly on yet, but it sure looks good. I fought
with degreasing the car for a few hours, unsuccessfully, I am ALMOST (but
not quite) ready to have it steam cleaned.
Patton
Patton Dickson - Richmond, TX
'57 A-H 100-Six - http://Austin-Healeys.com
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