Had sent my max-cooling rad from my '79 W150 to Glen-Ray for a recore several months ago. Told them take their time since I had an el-cheapo Spectra with plastic tank filling the bill in the meantime. I got the GR installed yesterday, and wow, what a difference. What a quality piece. The weight alone shows the quality. What a nice solid piece, and it's so nice to have the metal tank back, with part# stamp and pentastar, along with the cooling capacity. Well worth the cost. I was going to keep the spectra around for just in case situation, but quickly realized not worth the space in my garage. It felt like a feather compared to the factory recored piece.

I've had them restore a couple radiators for me and they did an amazing job.....worth every penny!

Great to deal with.Quality work.

Glenn Ray is the Mac Daddy of radiators!!!!!

Very happy with the restoration they did on mine. At the same time I had my brake booster, master cylinder, six pack carbs and radiator all sent off to be restored. The only part that didn't have to go back to be fixed again was the radiator Glen-Ray did.

I have to agree, one of the best vendors, and
the radiators look perfect, and actually cool.

Had Glen-Ray do the rad on my AAR. Beautiful work!

They do excellent work!!!!

Second that. One of the best vendors to deal with customer service wise as well.

Bob at Glen-ray is the Man. They do all my radiators. Great work and customer service.

May I ask , How much is it to recore a radiator?

It was $750 with shipping. Sounds like a lot I know, but it is a Max Cooling, and it's done right and will last me for a VERY long time versus the other junk out there now.

And yes, customer service great too. Bob called me and said "I shipped your radiator today. Give me a call when you get it installed and drive it and will square up". UH???? Seriously???? A company won't take payment until you install your radiator and drive the car and are happy with it? Wow, that's customer service!

750 ! ....

That DOES SOUND like excellent customer service ... but at what cost

A N D at what weight ? Is that a real heavy piece?

I’ve had REALLY GOOD LUCK with the aluminum core with plastic tanks as of late

I just ordered one of the reproduction tanks from Glen-ray last week. $1195 and it includes the correct mounting bolts for the radiator and the shroud, the overflow hose, the cap, and the trans cooler fittings and the correct hose clamps.
It beat the used one I saw on Ebay for $1000.
Glad to hear people are happy with the service and the quality.

The weight is the factory weight instead of the weight of the cheap plastic tank POS one that was filling in. I'm back to factory weight now. I'm not relying on luck. Plus, on a big heavy truck, I need good cooling, and I can already see the difference on the gauge, and we're not even into Summer yet. I bet I never need a radiator again. Well worth it.

Times sure have changed

The last BIG RECORE I did some years ago was like 130$.

10 yrs ago I got a local quote to recore the factory 3 row in my wagon........$450 NOT including 'labor'.

Never had it done, and continued squeaking by with a factory 2 row from another '73.

$750 don't sound bad.

I think that's also what I paid for a 3-core 22" in my first big-block A-body. But that was in 1983
Still, even allowing for inflation in the last 37 years, $750 sounds steep...

Wow, guys that think $750 is a reasonable price? You must be the guys that are resigned to thinking that it has to cost $50,000 to restore a car.
I could understand it if this was for a numbers correct, factory type restoration but for less than half, you can have an aluminum radiator that is lighter and cools just as good.
Do you just open the wallet when you buy or do you ever look to get a better value for your money?

If you knew how much of my backside I lost on a 69 Coronet R/T with a 22" radiator and a persistent heating problem, 7500.00 would have been reasonable.
It's a long painful story with the epilogue being a GLEN RAY radiator. NUFF SAID!!!

Pray TELL ....

Top quality work at Glen-Ray. Only place I'd send my stuff for restoration.

Always funny to see a post from someone, especially from Phoenix, who doesn't know anything about cooling! Have you even tried to get a radiator recored locally these days? IF you can find someone to do it, the cost is right up there with Glen-Ray. As far as an aluminum radiator doing the job of a factory one, then I have some ocean front property to sell you in Arizona...

And I will add...when you find someone to recore it it will have stray solder lumps and crooked assembly, radiator cap sitting clocked wrong, then you will be treated like dogpile when you return it to be fixed. When the radiator shop hero sees your "hemi" part number it will cost you $700. The glen ray comes back perfect, every ding fixed, heavier core than original and they always cool better than anything I have ever used, aluminum is a joke at the same size. Worth the money.

Well, spend the money then. There is an obvious disconnect between money and common sense with some people.
If aluminum is so bad, explain how late model cars run 300,000 miles on factory aluminum radiators. New cars run hotter yet they seem to stay under control with their "inferior" design materials as you allude.

Yes they do, BUT my v6 minivan has a wider radiator than my superbird!!! NO way an aluminum radiator will cool it, and it aint to cool cruising around at 220 degrees. I have some other bad news for you, it does cost 50 grand to restore a superbird right these days, close don't get it done. Peace man, if aluminum works for you great, glen ray always works for me.

Gee, you'd almost think he wasn't actually from Arizona.

Aluminum radiators have only one place and that's the dumpster. Hats off to Glen-Ray!

Aluminum radiators are awesome for race cars with the minimal weight and only have to cool for a few minutes at a time. Sure they will work for your basic daily driver and hot rod, and they are much cheaper, but I can't tell you how many times I have bought a used beater like a minivan and the first part I had to replace was the radiator...

Hmm, a used beater that needs parts replaced, who would have guessed?

I think you are correlating lack of routine maintenance with materials design issues.

Everything that's been said regarding the cooling and quality, PLUS, no it's not a numbers matching resto, BUT when I open the hood and see a factory Mopar radiator with the part number and Pentastar stamped, that's worth a lot to me as well. You may not care on your cars, but I care on mine. The install was quick and easy. The spectra I had in there fought me all the way. Trying to line up the mounting bolts (which should be simple really) was a huge PITA, and I finally had to leave one out, and use a cable tie because it was too far off to thread.

I would have paid $1000. And I'm sending off my heater core next.

Mike

Re-Core here in Los Angeles are $450-500 with high density core for 22” A-body Radiator

Of course you are supplying tanks and side supports. What ever dent/twist/pit condition they start with is what you end up with. They don’t do bodywork to your parts. But you can ask them to unsolder it all and you spend your own time fixing them.

Price of brass and copper have increase dramatically in last 10-15 years and production volume of brass cores has decreased even greater.

It’s a little RUFF in here ... for us guys that don’t have bottomless budgets

I talked with two places up in Michigan earlier ... their charges now are 350 to 400$ for a big B body 3 row rad.

LET US LEAVE the debate here ... at this point ....

Aren’t MOST ALL production FCA vehicles now equipped with aluminum core rads ?

Nope, they both had broken plastic tanks connected to the aluminum core...

ALL production FCA vehicles and everyone else uses aluminum and plastic because IT IS CHEAPER! Just like electronics, digital is MUCH CHEAPER than analog, but analog is a better technology...

Everyone else ? .... even all big semis and heavy equipment?

Yes.

Kevin

I will also add that I have had Bob at Glen Ray do 3 radiators for me through the years and he has always done fantastic work. The money spent on the radiator when its 95 degrees out and the car still runs 185 degree will be forgotten. He has also done a couple heater cores , and they have always been great to deal with. Quality costs in anything.
Matt

Contact Bob. He did mine and as stated, worth every penny!

It's not your money being spent nor your choice. Bob's customer service, his workmanship, careful detail, don't "beat around the bush" speaks volumes to many all over the place.

71rm23, beautiful big block, with a/c! I bet you love that radiator!

Some s on here must have Xcellent retirement plans ....loads of spare cash and tons of CDs to over spend by as much as 100% on a copper/brass resto unit ....

But the that say an aluminum piece is junk .... the OEM market and assembly line production totally disagrees with that

THIS kind of reminds me of some people who have “wood” for carbon fiber over fiberglass

But carry on ... your $$ are yours to spend as you see fit ....

Doc I think it may have more to do with quality than cost. The radiator in the 69 that dealt me fits had a brand new core in it. The engine temp would continue to climb at highway speeds after a fresh rebuild. I later found out it had always ran on the warm side.
The heads were pulled and checked a a second reputable shop and reinstalled with no change.
he motor was then pulled again and 3 frereze plugs were found inside the water jackets. AHA!!!!
Reinstall, no Chnage.
Pull motor again and send to second reputable shop. Minor issues but nothing of any consequence.
Reinstall, SOS.
Talk to Glen ray. Send him the radiator. It comes back, install it and temp never goes above 190 even on the hottest days and hasn't to my knowledge 5 years later.
All readings were being taken with a laboratory grade digital meter and thermocouples which are accurate to 1/10th of a degree. You wanted the story, You got it! BTW the above is the short version.
I have had a few other similar situations since then and in all cases the quality of the core being used was the root of the problem

TJ .... do the only diff was the QUALITY OF THE CORE ?

.... just much better heat transfer ?

I do appreciate good customer service. I just have had good luck with both aftermarket aluminum radiators and even original Mopar radiators that have been boiled out.
I may never get to the point where I need a specific numbered radiator like I see that Glen Ray advertises. I am happy that such a vendor exists, OEM correct cars do need to have factory correct appearing parts.

We do have great retirment plans, thanks to glenray we will only ever need 1 radiator, so that helps. As far as an oem using aluminum, yes they do in a car designed for it, not the same as a retrofit, they are wider, bigger, and designed for a hotter running car. All I can tell you is his radiators work and cool better every time. You would think any recore would be the same, but it has not been that way for me, the fact the radiator looks so nice is also a plus. When I look under the hood of a mopar and see a cheap radiator it is the first sign corners were cut everywhere on the car, and I am not alone.

Sure you are not alone. There are smart people and there are idiots. Everyone can find a consensus if they are surrounded by people of their own kind.
Some people will spend top dollar for everything in their restoration but it in no way guarantees that they will enjoy their car more than the guy that used non stock parts. Original parts were not always used because they were the best, they were chosen for a variety of reasons including durability, appearance and cost. Factory radios, seats, suspensions and brakes are far behind the quality of modern aftermarket components. These may be dismissed by the purists but look around, the majority of cars that I see are not built to win Gold at some big show on the East coast.
Good for you if you are happy with the $1200 radiator. You obviously aren't eating Top Ramen to be able to afford such luxuries. A steak at The Outback tastes as good to me as anything from a 5 star restaurant and I get just as full from the meal.

the original radiator that was in my charger held coolant and cooled several different engine combos over the years.
when i got the car in 1970, it was hit HARD in the rear, which caused the fan to "dance" a bit on the core.
it was repaired by a local shop during the time the car was being repaired, and although the "fan dance" marks are still on the core, plus a couple of the core tubes were repaired by pinching them off, that repair has lasted until i removed it a couple of months ago. it's only a 22", with the side rails for a shroud, however, the shroud was removed years and years ago and lost.
it now looks like old age has caught up with it, as the core looks like it they do when they are ready to start leaking.

i won't be re-coring this unit, although the tanks and side rails are almost perfect. instead, i am using a very large, cross flow aluminum radiator [28"x3 1/2" thick with two, 1 1/2" tubes] coupled with a dual electric fan unit from a 2014 charger 6.4 hemi.
of course modifications will be [and have already been] done, but i will never restore this car. it is only a rebuilt "total".
the point is, this aluminum radiator is right for this application [in my opinion], plus it was way cheaper than a restored original.
each type have their place, and both will work perfectly.
it just depends on the application.

Jjs72d, I don't think your steak comparison is a good one, sorry. What we have written repeatedly is that the other ones fail early, don't perform nearly as well, and don't fit well and are very frustrating and take time to install because of poor fit. We have written these are the last radiators we will have to install as well, and that we've had bad experiences with other aftermarket radiators. Maybe you've been lucky and haven't. You're in the minority. If I have to replace an aftermarket one, my time is money. Then the cost of replacements adds up and in the long run I'm better off with the more quality piece. I don't understand why this does not make sense. It's not just with radiators! This is a basic concept. Lucky you though for having one of these cheap POS aftermarket ones last you for a long time, perform well, and satisfy you in every way. My less than a year old one would start running very hot in traffic here in Florida, looked like crap, and caused me all kinds of aggravation just to install, and required a cable tie for one of the mounting holes that wouldn't line up. But somehow I'm still blowing my retirement for spending $750 on a high quality piece that I won't ever have to replace again on a truck I love and plan to keep forever.

When phrased in the manner of the last radiator that I'll have to buy, it makes more sense. I'm not old enough to have had a new aluminum one go bad. I've built a few cars to sell, I've worked with friends on their cars, all with either used or new aftermarket aluminum radiators and have not seen a failure. Maybe In 10 years I may have a different opinion.

My problem with the new plastic ones is that they look nothing like stock and when you're using them in something like an older mopar the tank is right in your face every time you pop the hood. Not to mention every one I've ever had has issues. Some don't fit right, some the drain is made in a way that it's impossible to get to. I've got one in a GM, at least on it they made the tank look pretty much like the stock one and when they run vertical instead of horizontal it's not noticeable but it's one of those with the crap drain.

Well nice to see you have an open mind, if you ever have a cooling problem glen ray is the place. Believe me I don't like the price, but the results are worth it.

Yes. the Core manufacturers like every other company are constantly trying to reduce costs. They do so by thinning the tube walls, fins, number of fins, thickness of fins, manufacturing techniques etc.
If we do X, it only affect the efficiency by 10% but saves us 5.00 a core. Multiply that by 100,000. Knowing that most systems are capable of handling that 10% loss no one is the wiser. Over a period of say 40 years the above idea is implemented 5 times. The thermal efficiency has now dropped by 50% from it's 1969 design. But now t's 2019 and the majority of the core manufacturers are not paying attention to 1960's radiator cores.
The local radiator shop which is becoming extinct, selects the new core on sizing primarily. The shop also is looking at the cost factor as most customers Aren't aware of the differences just the bottom line on the bill. Ahh this one per that catalog says it the same but is 100.00 or more cheaper. I can put that in my pocket or take it off the bill.
So when we have a big block being cooled by a 22" radiator that has a "NEW" core, it may not cool as efficiently as the original one did.
The cores may appear the same but the thermal efficiency is not and therein lies the root cause.

Very happy with the heater core rebuild they did for my Bird. Quality work all around.