rad clean bad nite

[paul7911]

So being a new V Rod owner, I had a look at the inside of the rad and it looked like it needed a good clean out!! so i tryed to take the right hand side cover off, bottom button head m6 screw seized up and the brass insert just turns around in the pastic (oh sh**) i gentley remove the cover with the brass insert still on the screw! had to remove brass insert with pipegrips and the left side cover same thing, not a good start!!anyway removed the main rad cover bottom reg rec plug 3 pin one needed a good clean,so i had a looked at the reg rec needs to come off, 2 seized m6 cap screws,got it off with the help of a load of WD40 and cleaned it up and repainted it! the next day i went to work made 2 top hats out of stainless steel with a flat on the top so they lock in to the main rad plastic housing ,i'm also going to make 2 stainless grills but i need to take the chrome outer cover off and will need to replace the 6 bezels,do they make stainless one's??and where can i buy them from ?can anybody help,thanks paul

 

[stevel]

Re: rad clean bad nite

will need to replace the 6 bezels

Not sure what you mean by this Paul - each of the 2 chrome radiator scoop trims has 2 tabs and 3 prongs.The prongs are a particularly evil design as you can only remove the pressed steel nut from the inside of the radiator cover and inevitably at least one of the prongs will break as you remove the nut.
If it's not that you're talking about which bit is it?
Harley-Davidson Parts

Steve

 

[panheadpete]

Re: rad clean bad nite

Hi Paul; bit late now but could I ask why you felt the rad needed cleaning?
A proprietary cleaner, aluminium safe, would have got rid of most things without removing the rad but if you had signs of rust, scale or 'mayonnaise' then the problem won't be fixed by just cleaning; either the coolant mix hasn't been maintained properly (rust or scale) or you have a head-gasket problem (oil mixing with water = mayonnaise).
Cheers,
Pete

 

[paul7911]

Re: rad clean bad nite

Not sure what you mean by this Paul - each of the 2 chrome radiator scoop trims has 2 tabs and 3 prongs.The prongs are a particularly evil design as you can only remove the pressed steel nut from the inside of the radiator cover and inevitably at least one of the prongs will break as you remove the nut.
If it's not that you're talking about which bit is it?
Harley-Davidson Parts

Steve

Hi Steve yes m8 its the pressed steel nut number 7 (six of them) on the drawining , i need to cut them off so the prongs do not break off ,but i will need repace them,when i've got them off i can make the stainless grill to fit and the chrome cover will hold it in place

 

[paul7911]

Re: rad clean bad nite

Hi Paul; bit late now but could I ask why you felt the rad needed cleaning?
A proprietary cleaner, aluminium safe, would have got rid of most things without removing the rad but if you had signs of rust, scale or 'mayonnaise' then the problem won't be fixed by just cleaning; either the coolant mix hasn't been maintained properly (rust or scale) or you have a head-gasket problem (oil mixing with water = mayonnaise).
Cheers,
Pete

Thanks Pete i have just cleaned the road crap stones etc out of the rad air scoops, but to do this properly i needed ot take the rad cover off,loads of bits down and around the reg rec that i could not get out,lucky i did looking at the reg rec plug it could have shorted out ,also some of the cooling fins have got some stone damage thats why i'm going to make the stainless grills up ,thanks paul

 

[stevel]

Re: rad clean bad nite

Hi Steve yes m8 its the pressed steel nut number 7 (six of them) on the drawining , i need to cut them off so the prongs do not break off ,but i will need repace them,when i've got them off i can make the stainless grill to fit and the chrome cover will hold it in place

Ah , I see. Don't know anyone who makes replacements for those nuts as they aren't really nuts , they just bite into the plastic prong. A couple of my prongs broke off when I removed my trims , a blob of silicone holds them in place now as they are securely held on by the 2 plastic tabs that the proper screws go through.
Its the worst piece of motorcycle design i've ever seen.I'm fairly sure Porsche didn't design that bit....

 

[paul7911]

Re: rad clean bad nite

Ah , I see. Don't know anyone who makes replacements for those nuts as they aren't really nuts , they just bite into the plastic prong. A couple of my prongs broke off when I removed my trims , a blob of silicone holds them in place now as they are securely held on by the 2 plastic tabs that the proper screws go through.
Its the worst piece of motorcycle design i've ever seen.I'm fairly sure Porsche didn't design that bit....

Yes Steve your spot on with bad design ,the plastic prong would take a m5 thread if it did not have a small hole in it,may be i can make something to fit them!

 

[Dazzlin]

Re: rad clean bad nite

Just a thought, but if you go to B&Q and look at the fire grill section there are a number of really good steel preformed grills which are used for fire places. I used this on an old Yamaha RD350 rad and it worked brilliantly and wire locked it in place.

It's available in Silver and Gold.