Morris Minor Owners Club

@ Chris -exactly...... Far from unknown for the 'tap' to rip out of the bottom tank when opened for the first time in a while. Pulling off the hose is fine - and saving nasty old / filthy anti-freeze?? Come on.........

bmcecosse wrote:@ Chris -exactly...... Far from unknown for the 'tap' to rip out of the bottom tank when opened for the first time in a while. Pulling off the hose is fine - and saving nasty old / filthy anti-freeze?? Come on.........

Each to his own I suppose, I prefer to keep things original and with the price of antifreeze I try to save it when draining the system unless it is more than a year old

JOWETTJAVELIN wrote:

I have had quite a few year's experience with compressors and spray equipment

completely off-topic, but if you're referring to paint-spraying equipment here, do you know how much money would it cost to respray the roof, boot and doors of my car in black (the original colour).

The reason is the old boy who owned it all his life wanted to keep it original so only part sprayed it, but now the original black paint is so flat it looks awful. Thanks.

At todays rates I would imagine a cost of around 5-7 hundred pounds for a complete strip, prep and respray of the parts.
I no longer do the work but there are lots of good paint shops around.

saving nasty old / filthy anti-freeze?? Come on.........

Usually save it so it it doesn't polute and also to send it for recycling.

If it's recent antifreeze, the last thing you want to do is have to buy more. That's why some people save it.

Remember it's also POISONOUS.

No one seems to have picked up on the fact that removing the hose sends a torrent of water to lay between the engine bay floor and the top of the chassis leg where you can't soak it up,--- to do you know what! Crack open your rad drain now and then, to stop it seizing.

What is this hidden rust-trap Les? I can't visualise anything....

It doesn't take much as you say to just quickly open and close the tap to prevent it from seizing. It's hardly going to boil through losing a few drops of water.

JOWETTJAVELIN wrote:What is this hidden rust-trap Les? I can't visualise anything....

---between the engine bay tie plates and the chassis leg, granted it probably suffers when driving in rain but why add to it.

les wrote:No one seems to have picked up on the fact that removing the hose sends a torrent of water to lay between the engine bay floor and the top of the chassis leg where you can't soak it up,--- to do you know what! Crack open your rad drain now and then, to stop it seizing.

Exactly - put your finger over the end of the tap and move the lever gently back and forth a couple of times

Save antifreeze if less than a year old ???? I've never had antifreeze less than a year old! And there have been several reports on here of drain taps ripping out of the rad - so new rad required. As for re-cycling antifreeze - do you honestly believe that??? It's fine down the drain - that's all they do with it anyway!

bmcecosse wrote: And there have been several reports on here of drain taps ripping out of the rad - so new rad required.

+1 happened to me about 15 years ago one sunday morning.. turned a 20 minute job into a couple of hours trying to track down a new rad before doing a 60 mile round trip to pick one up.. guess how I empty my rad now!

It's fine down the drain - that's all they do with it anyway!

Not in this country (Canada)

Believe that if you like.......

I also ripped a hole in my rad, someone had put a bolt in to replace the tap but I thought that was normal... Overestimated the thin metals strength...

Fortunately this thread came just in time for me, as I was removing the bottom hose which had probably been there for 30 years at least, I could see the pipe outlet moving against the radiator. I really thought they were made of tougher stuff than that. Anyway, I simply sliced through the hose with a knife and prised round the remainder with a screwdriver to free it.

However, anyone with the right equipment could easily solder or braze it up again, it doesn't mean a new radiator.

Fitted new modern drain tap to Jethro's radiator - 5 minutes work, no leaks, no wasted antifreeze!