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New clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, pilot and throw out bearing installed on Wednesday. The '66 122s was running like new again. I got a little squirrely and passed a few vehicles up a highway mountain road who were "only" doing 70 mph.
Near the top of the mountain the temp gauge starts climbing, a fine spray of green appears around the edges of the windshield and the smell of hot antifreeze fills the cabin. I let up on the gas pedal. The temp gauge drops back down and then makes a steady climb until it disappears stage right.
Fortunately there is an exit with service station on the downhill side of the mountain. I stop in a cloud of steam and quickly open the hood. The steam is coming from the bottom side of the top radiator hose connection -- up tight to the tank.
After waiting for 15 minutes I check the top hose clamp and find that it can be tightened down 3/4 turn. Then the clamp was removed and hose pulled to inspect for damage. Hose appears fine. The top neck on the radiator has a little bit of a wobble though. I'm guessing that this connection should not have any play.
Nice folks at the service station gave me a watering can to fill her up. No leaks after the car was started. I drove with one eye on the temp gauge. Car didn't overheat. Ran into bumper to bumper traffic for 20 miles. Car didn't overheat. I checked the water level at lunch. It was a little more than a quart low but no puddles on the ground and no wetness around the top radiator hose connection.
I'm guessing that there is a small break at the neck joint to the radiator. Should the repair be done by a radiator specialist? My neighbor is a welder and would be more than happy to take a shot at it but I'm not sure if there is any special technique required to make the repair without damaging anything else in there.
Thanks for any thoughts,
Joe M in WV
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