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Original radiator, rebuild or replace? #300526 04/26/09 10:22 PM 04/26/09 10:22 PM
Joined: May 2008 Posts: 958 eastern, pa. C cudabitten OP super stock
cudabitten OP super stock C Joined: May 2008 Posts: 958 eastern, pa.	Hi, I am restoring a 74 Cuda, it has the original radiator. Its not in bad shape but I dont want to take any chances. Is there a way to restore it, or should I just replace it?

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: cudabitten] #300527 04/26/09 10:29 PM 04/26/09 10:29 PM
Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 1,896 New England Q5_Ed top fuel
Q5_Ed top fuel Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 1,896 New England	Send it to Glen Ray Radiator for repair and restoration needs. He did my 69 054 radiator, put new bottom tank and restored the rest. If you want original this is the way to go. Ihad him put high effeciency core I believe. Very happy with the results and customer service. You can save a little shipping by having the tanks and brackets removed to ship to him for a recore if you want. Or just pack it up good and send the hole thing. Ed B WANTED : ...A New Sponsor or Winning Lottery Ticket 69 A12 road runner ,Q5, post coupe, 4 speed, former Drag car restored to "Driver" condition in the early 90's, Showing some Patina. SS/E Track Record Holder 1980 10.40 @ 130mph

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: Q5_Ed] #300528 04/28/09 07:06 AM 04/28/09 07:06 AM
Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,545 Seattle, WA 3 375inStroke Special needs person
375inStroke Special needs person 3 Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,545 Seattle, WA	Great thing is your new one will be half the weight and last half as long as the original one. Why do you want to replace what isn't broken? Last edited by 375inStroke; 04/28/09 11:22 PM.

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: 375inStroke] #300529 04/28/09 07:35 AM 04/28/09 07:35 AM
Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio Challenger 1 Too Many Posts
Challenger 1 Too Many Posts Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio	Quote: Great think is your new one will be half the weight and last half as long as the original one. Why do you want to replace what isn't broken? Get the original recored by somone local to you.

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: cudabitten] #300530 04/28/09 07:40 AM 04/28/09 07:40 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 11,854 Georgetown Ontario Canada anlauto I Live Here
anlauto I Live Here Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 11,854 Georgetown Ontario Canada	Take your original to any well established rad shop in your area. They will be able to re-core your rad and save the "correct numbered" top tank *CHECK OUT MY NEW WEB SITE !*

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: anlauto] #300531 04/28/09 11:24 PM 04/28/09 11:24 PM
Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,545 Seattle, WA 3 375inStroke Special needs person
375inStroke Special needs person 3 Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,545 Seattle, WA	What I'm getting at is that the new cores are thinner now, and if the old one is still good and you use coolant, there shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps have it rodded out and use the lowest pressure cap you can get away with.

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: 375inStroke] #300532 04/29/09 12:37 AM 04/29/09 12:37 AM
Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 4,799 ILL M MLR426 master
MLR426 master M Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 4,799 ILL	Get it re-cored. Useing a low pressure cap equals a mess getting ready to happen. logan426

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: MLR426] #300533 04/29/09 11:56 AM 04/29/09 11:56 AM
Joined: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,163 NORTHERN VA T THESHAKERPROJECT super stock
THESHAKERPROJECT super stock T Joined: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,163 NORTHERN VA	Send it to Glen Ray . He did my ratty lookin 22in rad for $500 with a new high efficency core,refinished the top , installed new petcock and overflow hose AND painted the rad with the correct black paint. You will not get this type of work at a local rad shop . You will not believe how nice your radiator will look when you get it back from Glen Ray.

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: THESHAKERPROJECT] #300534 04/29/09 12:12 PM 04/29/09 12:12 PM
Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio Challenger 1 Too Many Posts
Challenger 1 Too Many Posts Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio	Quote: Send it to Glen Ray . He did my ratty lookin 22in rad for $500 with a new high efficency core,refinished the top , installed new petcock and overflow hose AND painted the rad with the correct black paint. You will not get this type of work at a local rad shop . You will not believe how nice your radiator will look when you get it back from Glen Ray. He's not looking to do a numbers matching resto, and every rad I ever sent out for repair came back with the same tanks attached. I had one done locally last fall and it looked like new and it was about 350 bucks. All I had to do is drop it off down the street and pick it up 2 days later. Everyone paints them when finished. I've had maybe 20 radiators recored as I maintain a small fleet of trucks. I couldn't see shipping it somewhere.

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: Challenger 1] #300535 04/29/09 07:23 PM 04/29/09 07:23 PM
Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 1,896 New England Q5_Ed top fuel
Q5_Ed top fuel Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 1,896 New England	I said what he said, also, less than satisfied with local shop in the past. To each his own, but worth the end result to me. Not saying local guys cant do the job. For mine my bottom tank was trashed. He made it look new and has all the right parts. If I wasn't lazy I'd dig it out and post some pic's. Came very well boxed, what else can I say..... WANTED : ...A New Sponsor or Winning Lottery Ticket 69 A12 road runner ,Q5, post coupe, 4 speed, former Drag car restored to "Driver" condition in the early 90's, Showing some Patina. SS/E Track Record Holder 1980 10.40 @ 130mph

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: Challenger 1] #300536 04/29/09 07:34 PM 04/29/09 07:34 PM
Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 8,828 Houston, Tx hemi68charger master
hemi68charger master Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 8,828 Houston, Tx	Quote: Quote: Great think is your new one will be half the weight and last half as long as the original one. Why do you want to replace what isn't broken? Get the original recored by somone local to you. But also emphasize the uniquiness of the radiator, so in essences, don't screw it up. Troy Houston Mopar Connection Club '69 Charger Daytona 440 - auto - 4.10 Dana (now with 426 hemi) '69 Charger 500 440 - 4speed - 3.54 Dana '70 Road Runner 383 - 4speed - a/c (now with 440)

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: hemi68charger] #300537 04/29/09 07:49 PM 04/29/09 07:49 PM
Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio Challenger 1 Too Many Posts
Challenger 1 Too Many Posts Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio	I understand what your saying.I'm lucky that I have a long time shop near me. I just realized that I paid big bucks for a 959 radiator from a member here a few years ago that is in my 71. I'd still trust it to the guy down the street.

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: Challenger 1] #300538 04/30/09 08:46 AM 04/30/09 08:46 AM
Joined: May 2008 Posts: 958 eastern, pa. C cudabitten OP super stock
cudabitten OP super stock C Joined: May 2008 Posts: 958 eastern, pa.	Hi, thanks to all the responses. This is a numbers matching restore, this is my first time I have restored so I wasn't sure of all options. The radiator looks like someone had repaired it from the outside, it has some black hard substance on two or more places on the fan side. (maybe someone used that "bar leak sealer" from the inside).Like I said it does not leak, but cooling systems on old cars always seem to be a weak link. I could clean it real good and paint it myself.. where do you look to confirm a numbers matching radiator? is there such a thing? Chris. Last edited by cudabitten; 04/30/09 09:43 AM.

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: cudabitten] #300539 04/30/09 11:12 AM 04/30/09 11:12 AM
Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 15,134 Kelowna, B.C. Canada D DPelletier I Live Here
DPelletier I Live Here D Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 15,134 Kelowna, B.C. Canada	No, just the right part number. On any full blown resto or even getting a fresh engine, I always get the rad done. Sometimes it can be hot tanked and repainted, but most of the time there is core damage and it needs a recore. There's no way I'd trust that rad with a fresh motor. Find a good radiator shop and have yours hot tanked and go from there. There are better cores out there than the stock ones as well as some inferior ones. I used a "high performance" 3 row core on my original 22" rad. The tanks can and should be saved. Cheers, Dave 1970 Super Bee 440 Six Pack 1974 'Cuda 2008 Ram 3500 Diesel 2006 Ram 3500 Diesel 2004.5 Ram 2500 Diesel 2003 Ram 3500 Diesel 2006 Durango Limited [url] http://1970superbee.piczo.com [/url]

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: DPelletier] #300540 04/30/09 11:27 AM 04/30/09 11:27 AM
Joined: Nov 2008 Posts: 1,565 tennessee P pushbutton pro stock
pushbutton pro stock P Joined: Nov 2008 Posts: 1,565 tennessee	Have it recored,but tell them you will paint it yourself. Most rad. shops don't do very good paint work.

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: pushbutton] #300541 05/02/09 06:36 PM 05/02/09 06:36 PM
Joined: Oct 2007 Posts: 192 Georgia,Douglasville streaker member
streaker member Joined: Oct 2007 Posts: 192 Georgia,Douglasville	My cat Pumkin says"If you want it done right the first time send it to Glen-Ray." That is where I sent mine. 5203153-radiator-pumpkin.jpg (61 downloads) I said Don't look Ethel, It was too late

Re: Original radiator, rebuild or replace? [Re: streaker] #300542 05/05/09 06:57 PM 05/05/09 06:57 PM
Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 936 O OLD318 super stock
OLD318 super stock O Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 936	Any reputable radiator shop should be able to re-core that radiator with no issues...

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