Modding a 2-570 Heater Core (plug the hole)

well this 2-570 (gdi 399355) is about the only core that will fit in my case. all the rest are too wide. its a microatx case, and i had another thread on it. now i've finally recieved the core. The problem is that one of the tubes comes straight out of the side of the core (at the top of course), instead of both coming out of the front like a chevette for instance. I am wonderng, how difficult would it be to take off that pipe, patch the hole with solder or jb weld or something, drill a new hole on the front, and put the pipe back in it. i'll be using copper tubing for my whole setup, so i'll have to solder the tubing on there as well.
also, lets say that i manage to patch the hole, how hard it is to resolder a regular tube into a hole in the core? weapon, since you have experience in this area, i'd like your input if you see this.

jungle

You are not going to fill the hole with jb weld or solder, you will need to solder a metal cap of some type into the hole, drill the new holes, tap them, screw the barbs into the new holes, but cut so the threaded section is not too long, and solder it in. JB Weld could be used instead of solder, it is up to you. This is not easy, and be careful that you don't melt the solder holding the core together, but is doable.

Have you found a source for that core? It may be $$$. If it turns out to be cheap I might pick one of those up as well. The 1.25" should give you better airflow and performance.

ya the metal cap idea would work, but it seems pretty hard I think. Another thing u could do is cut a piece of metal bigger then the hole and jb weld it to the hc. I think that would be easier. Like cetoole said the idea of plugging the hole with just jb weld wouldn't work.

i also just thought about how u could just cut the pipe and put a 90 degree adapter on it if u wanted to and had the room.

the adam: that's the thing. if i had the room, that's what i would do. but i don't think it will work right.

to everyone: i meant that i would do that metal cap thing. sorry i didnt make that clear. i wasnt thinking about pluging the whole thing w/ jb weld ha ha. oops. but what about soldering new pipes (not barbs) into the new hole? how hard would that be? i don't want to use barbs b/c i'm using copper tubing, not plastic.

jungle

If you are good at getting a new clean hole, not a really nasty edged one, and you know how to decently sweat copper fittings, it should be no problem. I would suggest getting some similar gauge sheet metal and tubing to practice with, especially if the core is expensive. Maybe even a junk core from a salvage yard to practice with. Also, I have heard of people submeriging the core almost up to the area to be soldered on as well as covering the rest of the exposed area with a wet or damp towel to keep those temps down as well. Too much heat and it will start seperating.

that one is about $55 -$100 depending on which brand of core it is so you don't want to have any unfixable mod attempts.

option 1 - cut the tubing about 1/2" - 3/4" from the tank, find a copper cap that will fit each one, use solder to pre-tin the factory tubes and the insides of the caps, warm them up, apply the caps and then run a solder bead around the seam to make sure you have it watertight.

option 2 - heat up the factory tubes, remove them completely, tap the holes (hard to say what size without having one here but I would think that 3/8" NPT would work), thread in brass plugs that are 3/8" NPT and then run a solder bead around the seam.

drill the holes where you want them but go on the tanks with the smallest possible drill bit needed for the fitting (and preferably the sharpest). Sometimes, drilling only a small hole and then grinding it up to size with a dremel is the safest bet if you are careful with the grinding. Tanks on cores are made from fairly thin metal most of the time and drill bits love to hang on them and rip a nice line in the tank if you are not incredibly careful with the drill.

sweating copper fittings isn't really that bad

I suggest getting a mini torch (check hobby stores) as opposed to the normal plumbing size torch.