How to remove dents from a radiator tank?
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Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
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URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=179079
Printed Date: 14 Dec 2025 at 8:55am
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Topic: How to remove dents from a radiator tank?
Posted By: DSeries4
Subject: How to remove dents from a radiator tank?
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 9:15pm
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Anyone have any ideas? The top tank on my G has many dents in it. Aside from the dents, it is in perfect condition. My local shop cleaned and tested the rad and did not have any reason to remove the tank. I took it to my body shop today and he did not think body fill would hold up well on a copper tank that can get pretty hot. Any ideas on how to make this look better?  ------------- '49 G, '54 WD45, '55 CA, '56 WD45D, '57 WD45, '58 D14, '59 D14, '60 D14, '63 D15D, '66 D15II, '66 D21II, '67 D17IV, '67 D17IVD, '67 190XTD, '73 620, '76 185, '77 175, '84 8030, '85 6080 |
Replies:
Posted By: LouSWPA
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 9:34pm
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My Humble Opinion, unless you are restoring to show quality, I would leave well enough alone. Just about anything you do, short of a professional removing the tank and repairing, is risking a bigger mess! That said, if you still want to try, I suppose you could, maybe, manufacture some tool to wiggle through the filling port and under the dent to buck as you tap the dent out.....but, I would leave well enough alone. If it is working, resist the urge to fix it.
------------- I am still confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Ps 27 |
Posted By: DSeries4
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 9:37pm
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I am restoring to show quality. The way it looks now is not gonna pass muster. ------------- '49 G, '54 WD45, '55 CA, '56 WD45D, '57 WD45, '58 D14, '59 D14, '60 D14, '63 D15D, '66 D15II, '66 D21II, '67 D17IV, '67 D17IVD, '67 190XTD, '73 620, '76 185, '77 175, '84 8030, '85 6080 |
Posted By: T Hunter
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 10:05pm
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The way I've always done them is I solder a pin on there and use my slide hammer and just bump the dents out the best I can. I use 60/40 radiator solder....the more lead the less chance of breaking any other solder loose with heat. Then you can just heat and remove the attachment pin. After that go "old school" and lead up the remaing dent and work down like they did back in the day or like your bondo/filler. Disadvantages are... top has to be clean clean to assure bonding of solder or lead. Lastly you will be working with a "toxic" material and take all precautions to protect yourself. You will have to paint it back black to cover the lead/brass look. Just my two cents |
Posted By: C in Concord
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 10:17pm
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Powder coaters use high-temp body fillers. One example is Eastwood's Lab Metal product. Personally, I'd attempt a paint-less dent puller (glue on anchors that you can grab with a slide hammer). Worked pretty well on my truck door after a joust with a run away cart of rain gutters in the parking lot of my local building supply. Pullout what you can and move on. Perfection is the enemy of good. Ben ------------- Leave things better than you found them. 1941 Model C (restored 2020) |
Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 6:54am
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options.... 1) I'd have the rad shop remove the top piece( header ??) then take an hour or so and 'metalwork' the dings out from the back side. It's thin tin, so real easy to do. Once satisfied it's 'show quality', then have shop reassemble the rad. 2) Now true 'old skool' fix would be to 'lead' the divots, same as 50s body guys did repairs to car bodies. Clean the header real good(bright and shiny), flux, heat, pool on the 'body solder', file smooth, paint. #1 would be the 'proper way', #2 is the 'easy way' #3 maybe use shortstrand firbreglas, need to lookup the temp rating though, rad might get say 200*F ? FG is used a LOT for high temp stuff...'should' be OK though... ------------- 3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112 Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor) Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water |
Posted By: dustydoo
Date Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 10:31am
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The brass tanks on these old machines is very thin. Trying to remove the tank and dolly the dent out is the most expensive way. And you will still be left with minor dents from the dolly and hammer, plus the brass has many many heat cycles on it so you also may end up with tiny cracks. Filling the dents with solder,and then reshaping to factory shape will probably be your best bet. Unless you plan to strip the paint and polish the brass this is probably the most economical way. |
Posted By: Dakota Dave
Date Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 12:13pm
| The only way to get show quality is have the tank removed from the core work it back to original and have the tank reinstalled. Your radiator guy will not like you and it'll cost more than buying a new one. Any other way is just half assed |
Posted By: SEIA Farmer
Date Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 8:17pm
| I had the same dilema with my WC radiator. Took it to a radiator shop to have a new core soldered in. Dropped it off when he wasn't there, so never gave him instructions. Got it back after 2 weeks with a big ole patch soldered on top and a bunch of globs in the lettering on the front where he patched some pin holes, and the dents were all there yet. I didn't say anything because it was partly my fault for not telling him how I wanted it done, besides, it would've cost even more to fix. I just paid the almost $600 bill and took it home. I got on Youtube and watched some videos, and taught myself how to solder. I ended up melting the whole thing apart, and after pounding out the dents and soldering the pin holes on the inside, I soldered it all back together with a new copper drain tube, and after a week of working on it, looks pretty good all painted up. Should've got a new core and did it myself in the first place! Lesson learned the expensive way! |