Saw an entry on Colin B's enterprising thread about his Singer 10 that touched on a topic important to many of us.
As our cars age, their radiators --not stout stuff when first created-- succumb to electrolysis. They are brass and aluminium vessels held together with silver solder, a bad start, and we ask them to contain a slightly pH basic solution at high temperature and under pressure. It's not unlike asking a person to have teeth without looking after them: the results are going to be progressively disappointing.
Our cars' radiators have succumbed to 1) time 2) corrosion 3) abuse 4) mis-matched anti-freeze and 5) time ( I said it twice, but not to be annoying: they weren't designed to last for 80+ years, particularly in a thermo-syphon system which has liabilities all its own).
Along with the esoteric approach to cooling posed by a thermo-syphon systetm, the pattern of Singers' radiator fin matrix is also unique, resembling interlocked back-to-back chevrons.
I learned more about this when in England a couple of years ago while attending one of the monthly car shows at Bicester, the repurposed WWII landing field in Oxfordshire, UK that now houses a concentration of numerous automotive specialists. It's a form of petrol head heaven, with one-stop shopping its aim.
At Vintage Car Radiator Company ( http://www.vintagecarradiatorcompany.co.uk/ ) there was a familiar radiator on his work table, a Singer unit. I got it from the 'horses mouth' when I inquired about recoring our radiators: the chap who runs business said the matrix pattern used by Singer is no longer available and in fact has not been produced for many years.
Inquiring about the feasibility of having dies made to recreate the interlocking chevron pattern and he said it would be prohibitively expensive. (What we need is several exceedingly wealthy Singer sponsors to pony up £5000 apiece...
) If you are going to be in the UK near London, may I suggest planning your trip so you have the opportunity to go to Bicester for one of the monthly car shows? When there I saw over 400 cars of every stripe: we visited a magneto repair shop, a trimmers and the facility that pertains to this thread. And flavors I had never seen. It was Wonderful.
Going to Bicester is worthwhile without the car show, but as Mae West said, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful". The experience of visiting the specialty shops is great, but give yourself the opportunity to have the full experience: check the schedule to see what weekend has a car show, so you can do both.
Along with Singers and Sunbeams I am interested in Jaguars. On the week end that I visited Bicester, Phillip Porter, renowned Jaguar researcher, writer and owner of 3600 HP, the 1961 Geneva Show car and earliest surviving production E Type coupe, was there with that car. It was an amazing experience altogether. Give it to yourself if at all possible: you won't ever be quite the same, if only for having visited a place that contributed to the saving of the Western world as we know it during the Battle of Britain. Oh, yes: there are also vintage air machines to be seen as the facility is still an active air field, along with a storage facility for vintage cars and airplanes.
Bon Voyage. Let us know if you go, and if you like, share your impressions with words and pictures.
Very Best,
David
Very Best,
David
