Save the radiator or replace?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
From: Perkasie PA
Save the radiator or replace?
I have an original '60 Corvette radiator that is hammered by the fan. Should I attempt to have it re-cored and save it or get a repro? The tanks are perfect. It is mangled where the fan and the radiator became one while the engine was running. I would prefer to reuse as many original parts as possible. With new one cost $1K i thouhgt I could spend some money to save this and be ahead.
Opinions on option and who can re-core?
Thanks!
Opinions on option and who can re-core?
Thanks!
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 38,897
Likes: 1,926
From: Washington Michigan
Any competent radiator shop can re-core it using your original tanks; if originality is important to you, DeWitts has replacement '60 cores that are identical to the original. He also has an aluminum duplicate (A55M) of the original copper/brass radiator that looks identical when painted black, with about 35% more cooling capacity.
www.dewitts.com
www.dewitts.com
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 5,347
Likes: 36
From: San Clemente CA
Any competent radiator shop can re-core it using your original tanks; if originality is important to you, DeWitts has replacement '60 cores that are identical to the original. He also has an aluminum duplicate (A55M) of the original copper/brass radiator that looks identical when painted black, with about 35% more cooling capacity.
www.dewitts.com
www.dewitts.com
There you go, I knew an expert would chime in
Don
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 786
Likes: 15
From: Emporia, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, KS
I assume you are talking about the lower-horsepower brass and copper radiator.
If you are wanting to stay as original as possible when re-coring, remember that the core was a stacked-plate design, not a tube-and-fin. Before I went with De Witts aluminum replacement, I had mine re-cored years ago. The shop I went to could not replace the core with a stacked-plate core, so I had them install a tube-and-fin core. It worked okay, but I would recommend the De Witts; much better cooling.
If you are wanting to stay as original as possible when re-coring, remember that the core was a stacked-plate design, not a tube-and-fin. Before I went with De Witts aluminum replacement, I had mine re-cored years ago. The shop I went to could not replace the core with a stacked-plate core, so I had them install a tube-and-fin core. It worked okay, but I would recommend the De Witts; much better cooling.
