V6 Radiator Woes

I know this is an old thread but the radiator problems for these CJ5 V6's have only gotten worse over the last 10 years. Today, a replacement radiator for the V6 dauntless sells for over $600.00, so an alternative is needed. I found this site when trying to solve my radiator problem. When I bought my cj with the V6, the PO had replaced the original radiator with a thin radiator that was much wider than the original and was connected with baling wire. Not real pretty. No way was I going to pay $600.00 for a replacement radiator. In desperation I purchased a 64-66 Mustang V8 radiator off E-Bay for $113.00 with free shipping. Let me tell you my experience in hooking it up. The flanges were about the same width as the flanges on the jeep radiator shell. The lower bolts fit fine, but I had to drill new holes for the upper bolts. No problem there. The problem that I encountered was the lower radiator outlet was at the wrong angle. It went straight out from the radiator, whereas the original radiator lower outlet went to the side. The new radiator outlet with a hose attached would make contact with the fan. I considered taking the radiator to a radiator shop to have them relocate the outlet to the side. This may work, but I went another route. I turned to an electric fan system and removed the original fan. That problem was solved. The next problem I encountered was there are no lower radiator hoses made (at least none I could find) that will make the bends you need to hook up the lower outlet. So I made my own hose from an 18 in. flex hose, and connected that with an O'Reilley's Auto Parts radiator hose repair connector and a 90 degree elbow. The outlet from the radiator is 1 3/4 in whereas the lower water pump outlet is 1 1/2 in. I purchased a 1 3/4 in. hose and double clamped the water pump end. I got the fan off E-Bay as well for $64.00 with wiring kit. It took about 2 hours to affix the fan and wire it. It works fine and looks great. The jeep has yet to overheat. My cost was less than $200.00.

 

Great success story. Good for those who just want to keep them running, but it's true that the stock purists potentially need other alternatives. Read this thread because mine is likely to need repair or replacement too, looks like the budget for repair will have to be pretty big before I consider replacement viable. Luckily I know a good radiator shop that can probably not only repair that, but also put the return line fitting on my new gas tank. Maybe if I bring them both projects at once and I'm not in a rush they'll give me a nice discount.

Someone mentioned something about conversion to a 3 core, anyone have info on that? If I ask the shop about it, they'll likely not need any more info to know what I'm talking about?

 

The number of rows of core is determined by how many you choose to install and whether the tanks are wide enough to accommodate them. If you replace the core, the shop can order a core with 2 or 3 or more rows, as long as the tanks will fit over the extra thickness. You can look at your radiator and see if there is room for another row of core.

Here is a core with three rows.The top and bottom tanks and the brackets have been removed, leaving just this corroded core.



You can see that the tanks here are wide enough to accommodate 4 rows, but the radiator was built with 3. Each row consists of a series of flattened brass tubes with copper fins between. More rows means more cooling capacity, more material and assembly, and thus higher cost.

 

Try Rock Auto.

 

I just did. No good.

 

A Fiero radiator may be another option. No personal experience - site:earlycj5.com fiero radiator - Bing

 

Check out oldtime's add in the classified section. CJ-5 radiator for $50.00.

For Sale - Radiators

 

That'll help one person maybe if it's salvageable, but I think the intent in this thread was to discuss any other more widely available solutions. The fiero one sounds interesting.

 

I agree the fiero one does sound interesting but that was not the original question. The original question was stated as, "The guys at thejeep.com said that radiators were not made for these anymore. Any suggestions on where to look (local junkyards can't help)?" Oldtime has one for sale hence the suggestion to look in Ecj5 classified.

 

Yeah but that was 10 years ago, hope he's found one by now. Since then the thread evolved into where can we find a more reliable source for the community as a whole. It is good to know there's a potentially salvageable core available right now but as soon as that's sold we're back to junkyards again, aside from using these alternative vehicle radiators it seems. Definitely going to take my radiator to the shop. Also, I noticed that the overflow line's little nipple has corroded off on mine, the line just kind of fell off when I wiggled it a bit today with some of the metal (or rust) nipple still inside. Hope that can be easily repaired by the shop...

 

Look under Mustang, Falcon and such.

 

So we're just conceding the fact that for a restoration, junkyard pulls, ebay, for used cores are the only option available at this point? While the options from other vehicles can get you back on the road, for a restoration those don't seem like they'd quite cut it.

 

Well, if you are willing to pay the price, you can always have your radiator rebuilt at a custom shop. I'm sure that's what Jay would do for one of his old cars. Likely that price would be on par or higher than the new $600 radiator available from Walck's. For a true restoration, that does not seem so outrageous.

If you have a radiator with the right top and bottom tanks and side brackets, you can look around for shops that will rebuild that with new core. My info is about a decade out of date, but when I repaired my J-10 radiator, the shop (Carrol's in Lexington MA) bought the core from another supplier and assembled the new radiator using my tanks and brackets. The core is built from standard parts - brass tube, copper fin and perforated top and bottom plates - so I expect the core supplier can make a core to any size.

Wherever Walck's is getting the radiators, they are making the tanks and brackets, but the core is something of a commodity. If you have tanks and brackets, all you have to do is find a shop that will source the core and do the flame work and leak testing. No problem!

 

I recently purchased a all aluminum radiator from Radiator Express, for a 71 cj5 with v-6.
It was $ 275.00. It looks plug an play, but i haven't installed it yet, as my fiberglass tub
replacement is going slower than i thought it would. The dimensions look spot on to the
one in my 1970 now. I believe i bought that one in 1997 from 4wheel.com and had nothing
but problems from day 1. The price back then was around $350.00 and 8 years ago i
had it re cored and the shop didn't want to touch it because it was cobbled up from new.
They charged $400.00 and now it's leaking from the tanks again. When i get this new one
installed i'll post back on how it fit.

 

1965-1969 Jeep CJ & 1967-1971 Jeepster Commando 17" Radiator

Someone on eBay has them for $400

 

Had anyone ever tried one of these?? If so, how did it fit?

 

That lower hose outlet should be angled out to the right (as viewed in the picture) for true stock fitment. It may be able to be made to work, but it will require modifying the rubber hose.
-Donny

 

On my 71 the bottom outlet is straight like the one shown. I was wondering if it was a direct if, or if the brackets had to be modified.