Anyone brazed a brass radiator before?

This is the tool you need to properly clamp the strap back onto the tank to solder it back on.

IMG_20240912_181517620.webp
 
No! I worked at a radiator shop for 20 years. Never braze one. You can solder it with 60/40 solder or 15% silver solder only. Brazing one is too hot.
Do radiator shops still exist? Or like carburetor shops they are few and far between.

I remember they had a large but not very deep tank for soaking radiators. One guy said the EPA put an end to whatever chemicals were in that tank.
 
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Do radiator shops still exist? Or like carburetor shops they are few and far between.

I remember they had a large but not very deep tank for soaking radiators. One guy said the EPA but an end to whatever chemicals were in that tank.
Still many in my area of southern California. The epa made them stop using a hot tank decades ago. We used a hot pressure washer to clean the outside.

I used this shop a few times recently.

http://fontanaradiator.com/
 
I soldered my 1990 Legend's OEM brass radiator several times this year, but the experience wasn't great. It started out as a tiny crack, but soldering it created more cracks. Every time I'd solder one crack, I'd end up creating another. And after 1-2 months, it would just crack again somewhere else.

After it became obvious that it was just going to keep leaking no matter what I did, I ended up just buying a fully aluminum radiator online and replacing it.

Solder definitely can work temporarily, but on a leaking rad (I realize yours isn't), I'd personally only use it as a temporary fix and plan on replacing the rad soon.

The problem isn't that the solder won't last (the whole thing is soldered together from the factory), but once it starts leaking in one spot, it seems like the rest of the rad isn't far behind. Whatever caused the leak (usually fatigue or corrosion) isn't limited to that one spot.
 
I’ve run into problems like that with old tractors. I had to do a valve job on my Farmall 656 gas and never had a leak in the radiator. Drained the coolant to do the head and took the radiator to my local shop to get it cleaned and tested. They couldn’t keep up with the leaks! I ended up buying a new radiator.
 
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