To all ,John ,Roger,Michael,Pete and Richard....Taking the few points in order., Firstly , the basic rectangular core for the radiator was made ,as it would have been in 1917, by a company who specialise just in making vintage type cores only , (in this case by Peter Stephens)....The Brass tubes are formed by a special machine into which long lengths of the appropriate size tube are automaticaly fed; first , when up against a stop , the 5" length is cut by a very fine saw ,(leaving no burr ) ,.The tube then drops down a ramp-way .(while the remaining long length of tube automaticaly is relocated to the stop, ready to repeat the first opperation )..At the bottom of the ramp , it is automaticaly located between strippers ,whence from each end it is entered by mutualy alligned hexagon * shaped drifts .(*or whatever shape is required )..These are withdrawn and the tube goes down a shoot for collection....When the required number is reached , they are chemicaly cleaned and stacked into an adjustable frame-clamp, set to the dimension specified by the customer....This has to be (for economic reasons ) a rectangle and of sufficient size to cover the final shape...**....After fluxing, the assembly (which in this case weighs about 75 Lbs ) is lowered into a bath of ** molton solder of some inch deep in some cases...This allows the solder to travel by capilary action up , just beyond where the hexagon changes to circular section.....This it should be noted , is not without considerable danger ,and appropriate protection against spatter and worse must be worne ......The assembly is withdrawn and turned over ,whereby the process is repeated for the other side.....This is all followed by a thorough rinse to remove all traces of flux...........** ..Due to the limited size of the solder bath available , the last few inches of tubes could not be fitted.....These had to be made up by me , back home at my own workshop ,useing the spare tubes , which I pre-tinned and added on to make up the required hight dimension........The next stage is to shape the basic block to the exact size of the ally' template .Using this as a guide , all the excess whole tubes were removed.....leaving a "saw-tooth" edge...This then had to be made up to fit closer to the required shape by either being "knocked in" or by the addition of half and smaller tubes..A reasonably close fit is necessary for the soldering to be able to bridge the joint to the side plates and tanks ..............The rest of the job ,Tanks ,etc , .........as in the earlier post on construction...
..JM