Beware of BAD ADVICE !!

Tonight I was surfing the internet looking at other automotive repair blogs.  I'm interested in being a contributing blogger.  I came across a guy on Squidoo via a Google search that writes a "how to fix your car/ask questions blog'" 

I found an article he had written on A/C repair.  I was trying to keep an open mind but by the second paragraph I could tell he had very little experience in the automotive A/C repair field.  He had nice pictures of various A/C parts and an explanation of what they did, but some of his theory was faulty and sounded like he copied straight from a book.  He points out an ad for A/C sealant saying you should only use this when necessary....REALLY A/C sealant??  No A/C repair tech worth his salt tells a customer to use SEALANT in their refrigeration system!  First of all, it doesn't work, secondly, it plugs up the very thing in the system that causes it to cool (namely the orifice). 

Being in the industry for over 33 years and specializing in cooling systems, I find this scary and unacceptable. There were a lot of positive responses on his blog too from lay people who don't know any better. So this guy in his blue and white striped shirt is feeding my potential customers BAD ADVICE!  This is right up there with the creeps who sell people belts and hoses that they don't need.  As they say in the computer biz "garbage in-garbage out." 

Please don't try and help if you don't know what you're talking about.  Just because a guy has a website and gives out free information, doesn't mean he has the experience to back it up.  I get customers in my shop that come in after researching on the internet.  By the time they get to me they believe they know it all and aren't open to my advice  They end up walking away angry if I disagree with them.

Need advice?  We can give you experienced help.
http://www.intermountainradiator.com

Offenhauser 1950's racer Custom Radiator

This is a 1950'S Offenhauser Indy racer radiator that came from one of our customers. This is an original radiator with a V-Cell construction that is not manufactured any more. Also this construction's not the best for heat transfer. Notice the dip in the top of the radiator?This was from a accident that happened during a race we will not be reconstructing the dip.

Our customer wants a better cooling package so we are building them an aluminum radiator. Here the aluminum core is setting next to the original radiator for comparison.

This core is used in oil cooler applications and we have adopted it in many of our automotive and heavy truck radiators. The tube wall is much thicker than in the standard radiator version, and the header plate is about 1/8 inch thick which makes for a much stronger radiator over all.

The layout for the inlet tank (the one with the two hose connections) had some unique bends in it and was a challenge to create.

As always we welded these tanks inside and out.

Here is one shot of the finished radiator.

The heat transfer that this radiator will be able to produce verses the original V-Cell will be huge. I would venture to guess that our customer will see a 100-200% increase in cooling performance helping the newly rebuild and restored racer back to it's former glory.

Need help with a cooling system? we do everything from automotive to race cars and big trucks.

http://www.intermountainradiator.com

Smith's heater core for a Maserati

So its time for pebble beach again and one of our very good customers is a regular there. One of his entries is a 1966 Maserati fully restored and ready to be sold. One of the parts that needed attention was the heater core. This core is a round cylinder style that is not manufactured any more at least not the original style tube configuration.

                   This is how the old one looked

                      This is whats available

So what to do? There is no fixing the original one as it looked like a lawn sprinkler when tested and the metal is so old and thin the more we work on it the worse it gets. In this model the heater core protrudes from the lower middle of the dash board between the driver and passenger so it very visible and needs to look original.

The first thing we did was to trim the new fins down to size.

Then we cut off the outer 1/4 inch layer of the original heater making sure not to damage it in the process then we soldered it to the new core from the inside.

Here is is finished. We didn't have to go all the way around the heater as it wasn't exposed.

Here is a double shot of the original and the donor core, as it turns out it fit perfectly and looked as it did the day it was made. Our customer is very happy and looking forward to pebble beach and a pocket full of money from the sale of this beautiful old classic.

Need help with a cooling system? Give us a call we are happy to help.
http://intermountainradiator.com