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I have the original brass BB radiator (time worn and dinged up) in the 1967 roadster. I bought a replacement rad. from Corvette America, but it doesn't fit right. The lower brass hose ell faces the shroud, it's got the trans. cooler bosses on the passenger side for an A/T (mine's a 4 speed), and the elbows are radiused instead of mitered! and NEITHER original-style hose will fit!@#$%&*!! Where can I get the CORRECT REPLACEMENT radiator for this car? Can it be recored? HELP!
:crazy: :chevy :chevy :crazy:
To the best of my knowledge there is no current correct Brass / copper replacement on the market. Tom Dewitt was making rumblings about building one but I don't think it is in the works yet???
jer
I recently went through this with the brass radiator in my Cosworth Vega. It had been "rodded out" back in '85, but now it appeared to be seeping from the tube solder joints at the endplates. I figured it needed a recore, but I found that there are no cores out there that look remotely OEM.
Another CVOA member referred mye to a radiator shop who rebuilt his radiator - Freddies in Artesia, CA. Freddie tested the radiator and said he could probably completely rebuilt it as long as the tubes were okay, and that turned out to be the case. He removed the tanks, then removed the endplated from the tubes - bead blasted all the deposits out of the tanks and end plates, rodded the tubes, and then soldered the endplateds back to the tubes and the tanks to the endplates.
Voila! It's essentially a brand new radiator and completely original. I pulled off the OEM metal tag and reinstalled it when I got the radiator back from Freddie. (shops throw them away). I also had him solder his tag on the bottom in an inconspicuous spot.
The job cost $75 dollars, but a Corvette radiator would be more because it's bigger.
The deposits were a result of running typical inorganic inhibitor anti-freeze, but I now use Dexcool, and its organic inhibitor package ( no inorganic salts) will not precipitate out and clog up the tubes in the future.
I recommend that you stick with your original brass radiator and have it recored/restored. If you want details just let me know your email and I'll fill you in on your options.