cooling pipe change to 1in copper

countryguy53

countryguy53

Daily Driver
I have read the threads on this fix but i didn't see which type of copper pipe to use, M or L ? What gauge are the 45s and the 1 to 1 1/4 adapter? I figure i'll probably use the L since its thicker walled. Will solider be strong enough or should i braze the connections? thanks Gene
 
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I'm not a plumber, but I've done a lot of plumbing. All the fittings seem to come in one wall thickness. I would go with the thicker L pipe if it were me. Regular solder should be fine, it won't see temps above the melting point of solder.
 
budgetzagato said:
I'm not a plumber, but I've done a lot of plumbing. All the fittings seem to come in one wall thickness. I would go with the thicker L pipe if it were me. Regular solder should be fine, it won't see temps above the melting point of solder.
Click to expand...

Gets my vote.
 
i was more concerned about the vibration and crack possibility more than the temp issue, just thought it wouldn't hurt to get input to be sure i wasn't being paranoid...i have done copper pipes in our house before but vibration wasn't an issue like i will be in the X...I have solder already prob 50/50 might have some old 60/40...that never got used.. tks gene
 
Vibration...

I think you'll be ok re: vibration. While the pipes might vibrate, copper is flexible and there's not a lot of movement in the pipes themselves, just at the ends but the rubber hoses should absorb most of the potential movement from the engine etc.
 
I used silver solder when I did my heater pipe mod. I feel better about the longevity of the junctions with that VS. standard solder.

4582FB0E-3D1F-44CD-915D-30BBEA9D9A6C_zpsttoamxaz.jpg
 
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Yeah... I've done two of these mods and used silver solder...

just because that's what I had and used on these sorts of pipes. I also used MAFF gas and not Propane because it allows you to heat it up faster and with less contamination. We also made up the fittings for the front end OFF the car measuring and aligning them to the cut off sections. Then slide them in, and soldered the rear end sections ON the car. Made it much easier.

(Still easier are two straight pipes and one or two long sections of flex hose... Its been done successfully!)

Also... I just bought the copper and fittings from Lowes and did not notice a CHOICE in types.

As for vibration and stuff... Has proven NOT to be a problem in the last 10 years or so.



Photo of my "boy" Tommy at the beginning of the surgery...



Photo of our end result! HA!

When we pressure tested the system we found a weak spot on the radiator outlet nub... and we were too whooped to drop it and fix it.

Called for AAA and had Mike and Big Bird hauled home some 60 miles and he took it to a radiator shop the next day.

But since then there were no problems and the cooling system has worked flawlessly.

HTH...
 
Thanks for the input guys, i thought id do most of the soldering before installed the back part, figured it would be much easier to get good seal much easier than trying to get the solder to flow and keeping the heat issue away from the undercarriage...this way id only have to do one connection on the car. was also going to use adapters to bring it back to the original 1 1/4in...so original hoses would fit... thanks gene
 
Yep... good point and you could do that just as the...

pipes exit the channel... but I have found NO real negatives in just doing it on the ends to better fit the hoses.

It is rather amazing though as some will point out here... just how much LESS coolant there is when you go from the approximately 1 1/4 inch pipe to the 1 inch pipe... Quite a bit! I'll let you do the math... But I betcha the heat transfer ability of the copper being so much better kinda compensates for the volume lost.

Do take fotos and usually folks find upgrades or shortcuts to share. Happy Plumbing!
 
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