Is there copper in this old water heater?
You got it, the pinion angle is too much
Give it the magnet test, If the magnet dos'nt stick, get it down to the scrapyard asap. Copper is a good price at the moment
Way older than 1970. even 50s water heaters were steel lined glass with heating elements in them. No copper. maybe a boiler?
Galvanized steel is my guess. It is cheaper and lasts a good while(not forever but 10-20 years). Why spend money for copper which is always much more expensive? The only copper on that unit is the pipes In the 70's(maybe earlier) they started to glass coat the insides so they would last longer. Mine had been in 35 years and was taken out when I was not home as everyone else was paranoid about it leaking. I peeled the sheet metal off and with a chipping hammer cannot find a weak spot anywhere, meaning it could have lasted another 20 years easy. It is glass coated inside bought in 1975 with 25 year guarantee It may be heavy because it has a build up of calcium salts and dirt that just lay in it. These are the type of tanks that are cut in half to make 2 water troughs for farm animals.
The steeper angle will cause U-joints to fail sooner.Pinion nose needs to come up a little.
