Radiators - Old Versus New

The top photo is a replacement (copper) YJ radiator I bought new - now five years old.

The bottom photo is a radiator from a 1950 Willys pickup, still in use today. 69 years old.

This is why I will always vote to repair an original, at any cost.

 

Problem is you have a YJ.

Not that it’s a bad jeep - It’s just the headlights.

 

What the heck happened to it? I’ve never seen that before. Like radiator leprosy.

 

Most small shops around here have closed up due to plastic and aluminum radiators in most or all cars/ truck made today. Thats what I ran into several years ago.

 

Incredibly flimsy construction, and winter in the northeast (road salt).

 

You've never lived near a beach! The fins corrode to nothing in only a few years when vehicles are used on the beach. Our work truck, a Chevy full size van would go though radiators like this. We would squeeze rows of RTV silicone dabs between the tube cores to support them (cross-flow radiator) to try to get another year or two, if we were lucky.
-Donny

 

Well, yeah I did in Belize, but the island was too small for vehicles.

 

Id like to where radiator shops get their cores. Its easy to solder in a new core and pressure test. Im sure atleast half the price is labor.

 

My favorite local rad shop recently closed up. Old dude hang it up. He said no one comes in for repairs anymore. Their mechanics simply replace the bad radiators in their shops now because it's cheaper and faster to replace than to repair. And i guess replacing plastic tanks isn't necessarily as reliable a repair as brazing good old solid metal radiators. It's a throw away society.

 

FYI... There’s still a place in Pottstown. My dad took Mighty Mouse’s radiator there, and the guy was stacked up to his elbows in big rig radiators. He said he’ll be in business for as long as the EPA lets him; there’s no shortage of work.

 

down to two in my area
mostly large trucks and industrial stuff
and some government stuff . is mostly what they do
radiator and heater cores will cost you a arm and a leg $$$$$
I replaced one in my ranger pick up . FLAPS 100.00