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If your ethylene glycol coolant is corrosive, it is also probably very old, with little or no rust inhibitor left. Change that stuff every two years like the jug says and the pH will remain pretty stable. Fresh stuff is neither corrosive nor is it acidic. Old stuff can be. One trick I have been using for several years now when I know I'm going to have to remove a head and replace the gasket anyway is to drain the system and rinse it out two times with clear water, then refill with water and about two quarts of the phosphoric acid that I use in treating rusty metal. It will convert a lot of the red rust to stable black oxied, lossen flakes that are ready to come out anyway, and leave the inside of the water jacket with a flash phosphate coating that will resist rust for sometime to come. Run the engine to warm it a bit, then drain, refill and flush once with a cup or two of washing soda dissolved into the water, then drain and disassemble. The inside surfaces will be much cleaner, more stable, and you will not have removed any needed copper, brass, or iron from the radiator. My $.02 Frank
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