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questions on building a block

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slowmike

Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2001
Location
Ohio
my block will be made of alum and my heater core is also alum.
i will be useing straight distilled water with maybe 1 tsp/tbsp of antifreeze
how thick should the base be? 1/8" or 1/4"
should i use plastic or brass barbs?
is there a way to solder the alum halves together or just jbweld?
how strong should the springs be for 4 hole mounting?
 
JB weld would be the easiest... I hear there is a way to solder, but it would take some research.

You want to use plastic barbs in that case... Brass would react with the alu.

The base on the block I'm making will be 3/16", but I hear that with ALU it needs to be a BIT thicker than normal... Perhaps 3/16- 1/4.

Now don't quote me here, but I think they should add up to 26 pounds give or take. Hope someone else can help here.
 
I would either use plastic or Chrome plated barbs. The brass and aluminum will corrode. You could TIG weld the block together, but then it would be a permanent connection.

The BP thickness really depends on the channel design. without seeing the design I cannot give you any educated advice, but 1/8" to 1/4" seems ok.
 
my block design is: a to drill a sprial design into a solid 2x2x.75" piece of alum. i will start from the middle and move outward. the top piece is a 3x2x.25" piece of alum having the plastic barbs and 4-hole mounting on it. my heatercore is also alum
 
I'v got down to 2mm at the center of my base in aluminum. No noticable bad effects. I would use polly barbs though. The minute I used brass on mine I could tell it was a bad choice. The insides already have a black coating to them after a week of use. With polly barbs or brass in a lexen top I never got that. I have a feeling the brass barbs will corrode long before the block does.
 
yes, the base depends on design, with yours, anywere between 1/8 and 1/4 would do well, and sealing it, the best thing would be to drill and tap holes in the bottom and drill holes in the top so you can screw the top on, and use rtv silicone or marine goop to seal it,
-edit-
I recently made a aluminum block, with a *sigh* poly top, only thick enough material I had to make it out of, anyway now that htat is said, Its nasty inside! 3 days of use and its BROWN, I am using a copper heatercore. its pretty gross inside there, im gonna stick my copper replacement in there pretty soon
 
should the water flow faster in the block or at the same speed as the pump can supply?
my channel will be 1/2 deep but should it be 1/2 or 3/8 wide?
 
NeoMoses said:
You could TIG weld the block together

that would take some skill...and a tig welder

3/8" wide would be plenty for a .5" deep channel...actually it is almost the same area as .5 ID tube

(pi*(.5)^2)/4 = .1963 in^2

.5*.375 = .1875 in^2

.5*.5 = .25 in^2

so the flow rate wouldn't change much using the 3/8" width and it would slow down a little with the .5" channel
 
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