New Holland Boomer TC35 - Radiator and battery tray repairs

[SG51Buss]

Well, my 2001 New Holland Boomer TC35 blew out all its coolant, and needed some fixin'.
At 14 years old, I would think that others of this age may be experiencing this same thing.
I searched the web, and found a plethora of info here, on TractorByNet.
So, I signed-up, and soaked it all in.

Inspiration and guidance for this task was provided by the late Jim Inman's (RIP) Boomer Battery Box mod thread (Thanks, Jim!):

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/new-holland-owning-operating/43498-jims-boomer-battery-box.html


Here's the main problem.

The battery tray clamping wings corroded enough to allow the battery clamps to spread away from the battery, allowing the battery to bounce around.
So, the battery's upper corner *bonked* into the radiator, creating coolant leaks on the front of 4 rows of core.


Here you can see the corroded/broken battery tray and the damaged radiator.

 

[SG51Buss]

A new radiator, p/n 86402724, costs around $450. Let's see if we can save a few bucks.

I attempted a repair using the 'mud-dauber' solder-blob technique, but kept getting pinhole leaks.


So, I decided to get a little more serious. Removed the solder blobs, trimmed back cooling fins from the repair area, and straightened the cores a little.


Then, dremel wire brushed the exposed cores to expose clean copper.
Brushed on flux, and soldered the exposed cores, across the fronts, and on the tops and bottoms, going back about 1/4".
It's now ready for leak/pressure testing.


It's a bit of a stretch, but the top radiator hose was just long enough to fit over both plumbing lines.
This seals off that part, and the radiator cap will stay on.
Pressure will be applied to a hose attached to the small drain/bypass fitting.


A portable air tank is used, filled to no more than 15-20 psi compressed air.
The radiator repair area is sprayed with soapy water, and compressed air is applied to the drain/bypass tubing.
A couple of bubbles showed that I still had pinhole leaks.
Resoldered the pinholes, retested again, until no leak bubbles.

 

[SG51Buss]

Now, the second/reinforcing part of the repair. Cut some 1/2" wide strips of 0.003" shim brass, and clean the brass until shiny.


Thoroughly and thinly solder-tin the brass strip. Cut the strip into lengths that will fit over the exposed repaired cores.


Using a piece of flat steel, about 0.080" (2mm) thick, with the edge rounded, fold the soldered brass strips lengthwise, soldered side to the inside.


Now, using a piece of round rod stock, about 0.080" (2mm) in diameter, form each strip into a 'C' cross section, as seen by the edge view of the vertically propped piece at the bottom of this picture. This will form a somewhat springy C-clip shape that will help to hold these overlapping/reinforcing strips in place during sweat-soldering.


Brush flux onto the exposed cores and the inside of the reinforcing C-strips. Then, fit the reinforcing C-strips over the exposed cores.


Sweat-solder everything. Clean up and pressure test. Got NO leaks this time, and it held pressure!

 

[SG51Buss]

Cleaned-up, painted, ready for reinstall.

 

[SG51Buss]

Well, here's my TC35 battery tray. Corroded, one clamp end completely broken off, the other one weak/bent and fixin' to go.


Here's the parts diagram, battery tray is item #10. Costs about $130. Unavailable at this time.

 

[SG51Buss]

The original plan was to remove the battery tray, and do the fixin' and mig-welding in the shop.
Unfortunately, the 4 bolts holding the tray plate to the frame are totally frozen.
So, wanting to avoid having this project snowball into a major restoration, I decided to leave it be, and weld it outdoors with gas instead.

So now, the plan here is to fabricate a slightly larger and thicker battery base plate, and bolt/weld it to what remains of the original.
This plate is 3/16", original is 1/8". I only had some 8" x 4" plates, so had to weld two plates together to make a 13" x 4" plate.
The upper left tab is shortened by 1/4", to allow future access to one of the hood latch mount bolts.


Six welding holes were drilled, and a thin layer of brass was applied around each hole.


The original battery tray was ground down to remove as much rust as possible.
Then 6 areas were treated to an application of brass as a welding foot.


The new/thicker tray is bolted on, over the original. Ready for brazing.


Welding done, cleanup, paint. Ready to go.

 

[SG51Buss]

Radiator installed, filled, doesn't leak.
Battery mounted, nice and snug. Need to add acid-absorbing mat under it, that's for later.
Let's see if I can get a few more years outta this...

 

[skyhook]

Nice work:thumbsup:, I wonder if cutting those 4 or 5 damaged fins "out" and crimping the ends and then flux and solder would have been easier.

 

[SG51Buss]

Thanx, skyhook. Yeah, I thought about doing it that way. The standard/accepted procedure. But, I wanted to retain the cooling flow thru those cores. If it failed, then that cut/crimp/seal method would've been my fallback plan 'B'...