Aluminum and steel

[devilgear]

I am having trouble finding a petcock for my new radiator and thought I would just use a bolt instead of the regular petcock...Would there be any problem using a steel zinc coated bolt on the aluminum radiator? Would it corode or stripe out or anything? Thanks..

[firefighter3931]

With aluminum rads it helps to run a "sacrificial anode" in place of the petcock/drain valve...this prevents electrolisis & corrosion. Flex-a-lite pn 32060


Ron

[devilgear]

Thanks Ron...Do you know if they have metric sizes too?

[375instroke]

Are the threads on the radiator aluminum too, or is there some other metal as an insert?

[devilgear]

The threads are aluminum I think too...I did find a bolt that would work...It's an M12 1.25...The problem was I had to buy a whole bag of 10 when I ordered the bolt...They were about $11 for the bag...I olny needed 1 and now I have 10...Oh well..I would have payed that much for a new Petcock anyway...