Howdy everyone.. I pulled my radiator out of my Mav.. adn there are these 2 metal tubes that connected to the bottom of it.. and I broke one.. where do I get them? Jason
Go to any auto parts supply store and buy 3/8" steel lines. IT comes with flair fittings on each end and comes in all different lengths.
They make a tubing thats made to be bent by hand real easy so its not that hard to just mirror the original piece. You could just get a union and put the broke ends back together. just make sure you get the kind that has the ferrules in the fittings because these lines are under a good bit of pressure. I had to cut the ones on my 84 pickup when I changed out the radiator because the tubing was stuck to the fittings and I couldn't break them loose to unscrew them out of the radiator. I rejoined them with the unions after I put the fittings in the reworked radiator and haven't had any problems with leaks .
I had to pull the radiator in my 71 F250 truck a while back and couldn't get them loose either. I just cut them and used rubber fule line with some radiator hose clamps to put them back together. Never had a problem with it... Also on our 74' Maverick, there was a place in the line that was rusted though and spewing ATF everywhere, I just chopped it out and put a piece of rubber fule line in there the same way as I did my truck. No problems... I do plan on fixing it right sooner or later though. As of 2 days ago my truck is now a 4 speed manual, so no more messing with this Automatic Transmission BS on it.
Mine got bent once and a hole was rubbed into it by the dampener, or a pulley, or something. I used JB weld epoxy putty and put a big glob all around the tube where the hole was. That was two years ago. No problems since. It is a little brittle, so I wouldn't joint two broken pieces together that way, as they would eventually vibrate apart.
Dang, never heard of that. As long as it works. While your redoing those lines you might want to add an aftermarket transmission cooler. Works a lot better than the one that goes just thru the radiator. I have added one of these to almost every vehicle I have owned. That and an electric fan. Just a suggestion....
