Club 80-90 Forums

ive just managed to bodge a dg rad to fit my early 82 diesel van. its bodgery at its best and quite amusing(i hope it works).
now, the only problem is the bleed screw has been drilled out so there is plastic showing through the brass. is there any epoxy resin or anything like a putty i can fill the hole with that withstand the pressure, heat and water ? or anything i could glue a large bolt in with, i could make another hole in the plastic and put a galvanised self tapper and rubber washer in for the bleed screw. where theres a will !!

2 pack chemical metal type stuff. Halfords sell it. It`s made by Loctite I think, comes in a plastic tube like a sausage. The two parts are already in the sausage, you just tear off a lump and knead it together to activate it. It sticks great, goes off hard and can be drilled and tapped to suit. I always carry a tube in me boat in case of emergency hole plugging !

i just went out to get some, if it stops raining i`ll give it a go..

i did this on my old rad i did a repair on it using an old renault water hose which had a small brass fiiting with at brass bleed screw in it

cutt off old rubber drilled rad slightly so the fitting would fit tightly then used some plastic metal glue to seal it in

worked fine

the pipe i used was off an renault 11 top water hose

junked the rad in the end as it was blocked

a substance called waterweld will also work, it costs about a tenner from good diy shops. at the moment im using it to fill the drain nipple hole on one of my front calipers as i buggered the thread on a recon.

so the bodgery worked !!! but now the fan wont come on, the radio wont come on and the thermostat wont open. ALL I DID WAS TAKE THE RAD OFF !!!!!! whats that got to do with the stereo ?????????? "i love t25s"

at least i hope its only the thermostat, the rad is luke warm and the return pipe in the engine bay is freezing. what about the fan and radio though!!!! like i said "i love t25s" AAaaarrrgh.

Must be down to the cold weather then

That'll be the elves then you'll need this

on the packet it said could be used on petrol, water, anything pretty much. but it does not say anything about withstanding pressures. its a big worry on my mind when braking and i need to replace the caliper asap. but ive had it like that for 2500miles and its fine, ive had to do a few emergency stops aswell. waterweld is also holding together one of my breather pipe conections on the top af the fuel tank as i broke that giving the tank a recon!. its magic stuff like a plasticine resin that sets like a rock after youve moulded it into shape.

Hey Benn, not seen your caliper, but isn`t it possible to drill out and tap to the next size bleed nipple? If that "repair" was seen at MOT time it would be a definite failure in my book (and I do `me)

it did go through an mot with it and i crossed my fingers the whole time hoping they wouldnt notice which they didnt. that calipers piston is badly pitted as well so it sticks and squeaks all the time.... very annoying. so it not worth a retap. have to get a new one along with the engine.. oh well ive spent far too much money on it to give up.

Glad I didn't have to be first to point that out... MOT man wouldn't spot it usually, but...


If its say equiv. to an 1/8th circular hole then at 1500 psi this might be about 20~30 lbf,

but this is what'd worry me.. petrol, water, anything pretty much. Except brake fluid maybe...

It'd be the effects of brake fluid on it in the longer term I'd be worrying about.. so keep looking for that replacement caliper

HarryMann wrote:Glad I didn't have to be first to point that out... MOT man wouldn't spot it usually, but...

May I also humbly point out that you're risking the lives of you, your passengers and everyone else around you for the sake of about £60 ? Recon/exchange calipers (of both early and late types) are readily available and perhaps a wise investment ?

I know there's no feeling like a shiny,new 12 month MOT ticket but .....


Ian.

Edited to add ..... to get you home in a dire emergency I wouldn't blame you for trying this BUT personally I couldn't turn a wheel the day after !