bolts on the heater control valve
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rlux4
bolts on the heater control valve
Taking off the two nuts that hold the heater control valve to the heater core I snapped the bolts off. Does anyone know if these are studs in the heater core, in which case they will unscrew out of their base?
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So Cal Mark
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manoa matt
- Posts: 3442
- Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:28 pm
- Your car is a: 1978 Fiat 124 Spider 1800
- Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
They are welded on however I think the heater core end caps are brass and the threaded stud is steel. Which leads me to believe that the stud is brazed to the end cap before the endcaps are soldered to the core.
I saw in another thread that you were considering drilling and tapping. I don't think the brass end cap is thick enough to get adequate threads. It will leak when it heats up, even if you were to somehow get a gasket/washer on both sides.
I think your best bet is to go to home depot in the welding tool section you will find some packaged rods manufactured by bernz-o-matic. There are several different types for different applications. There should be one type of rod for bonding dissimmilar metals. The rods are basically brazing rods that melt at much lower temps.
You will need to clean the surfaces very well. It will be important that you don't apply too much heat. Too much heat and the end cap solder joint may come apart. Also too much heat may cause the core tube solder joint to seperate. A few well placed wet rags may stop the heat transfer.
You may want to just take it to a radiatior shop. They can seperate the cap from the core, rod out the core or replace it, braze the stud on, then assemble the whole thing and pressure test it. Basically you get a "new" heater core for a fraction of the price. I had my radiatior re-cored and now its better than stock.
I saw in another thread that you were considering drilling and tapping. I don't think the brass end cap is thick enough to get adequate threads. It will leak when it heats up, even if you were to somehow get a gasket/washer on both sides.
I think your best bet is to go to home depot in the welding tool section you will find some packaged rods manufactured by bernz-o-matic. There are several different types for different applications. There should be one type of rod for bonding dissimmilar metals. The rods are basically brazing rods that melt at much lower temps.
You will need to clean the surfaces very well. It will be important that you don't apply too much heat. Too much heat and the end cap solder joint may come apart. Also too much heat may cause the core tube solder joint to seperate. A few well placed wet rags may stop the heat transfer.
You may want to just take it to a radiatior shop. They can seperate the cap from the core, rod out the core or replace it, braze the stud on, then assemble the whole thing and pressure test it. Basically you get a "new" heater core for a fraction of the price. I had my radiatior re-cored and now its better than stock.
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rlux4
broken studs
Thanks guys. It's fixed now. As I said in another thread (hey that rhymes) I went over to get a replacement from Mark and its in now. I think I will take my old one to a radiator shop and have it repaired, wouldn't hurt to have a like new spare. Good idea Matt.