Air Sealing a 1920’s ARCO Boiler

[sopcopotoptop]

Hi! As I continue to restore this 1920’s American Radiator Co. ARCO Ideal water boiler I am looking for ways to seal the combustion chamber and generally make it air tight so that I have the most controlled combustion air flow I can achieve. Modern boiler sections are sealed with fiberglass or graphite impregnated rope and some sort of squeeze-out sealant. Any reason I can’t do the same with this boiler? Not only the water sections but all of the doorways, dampers and other access points.

I have pretty much totally disassembled it down to the last nuts and bolts, removed all of the rust with muriatic acid and primed with Rust-Olem Farm & Implement gray primer. All hardware is being replaced with stainless steel as the originals all had to be ground off. All will get a coat of gloss black paint once re-assembled in place. Thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

[lzaharis]

You should visit the Mcmaster Carr home page to obtain
all your boiler sealing and gasket needs in one stop.

You have to keep in mind this boiler was designed as a
gravity fed boiler when and if you intend to use it for
heating and it needs to be pressure tested.

[sopcopotoptop]

Thank you for the information. I intend to do a hydrostatic test to at least 50 pounds once re-assembled.