Radiator, recore or replace?

[JC68vert300]

Just noticed today the radiator is a little wet along the bottom seam. No antifreeze on the floor and the level is fine. Just doing my usual inspection under the car. A/C car. Would like opinions on recore or just replace. I am leaning towards a recore. There are still some good radiator places here.
Fingers in North Brunswick and Hawthorne Industrial in Wayne. All well north of me. Thanks Jim C

 

['66 Fury I]

My first thought is to re-core. Was the radiator cooling well? Is the core bad or maybe just a seam in need of re-soldering? I have had several re-core jobs done with excelent results in all cases. I have usually added an extra row of tubes when "in the business", just for insurance. Lindsay

 

[Imperialist67]

I have often heard of replacement radiators not holding up as well as the originals. It may not be cheap or quick, but I'd recommend re-coring..........

 

[Big_John]

I just had one recored and it came out nice.

Are you sure it's leaking? A little bit of "wet" along a seam could be a lot of things... Overflow, spillage etc.

Fire it up and see if it holds pressure.

 

[polara71]

Re core!

 

[Samplingman]

Ditto on the recore if it needs it. Trouble is finding a place that actually does them. The guy I used a few years back retired, but still does them on the side out of a friends shop.

 

[FURYGT]

Re-core/repair. Consider adding an additional row if a re-core is needed.

 

[mrfury68]

Re-core. You are fortunate enough to have a few old school rad shops in your area so take advantage of that.

 

[JC68vert300]

my gut feeling was to recore, but I have seen so many aluminum replacement radiators at cruise nights and car shows that I started second guessing myself. Thanks for the feedback…100% in favor of a recore. The radiator is cooling the car fine. it looks like it is a seam that needs resoldering, but if it’s coming out of the car for the first time in 55 years, I might as well have it done right. I will use Fingers Radiator hospital. My neighbor used them for his 72 Dart, and was happy with them.

 

[JC68vert300]

Ditto on the recore if it needs it. Trouble is finding a place that actually does them. The guy I used a few years back retired, but still does them on the side out of a friends shop.

Fingers Radiator Hospital is located on rt1 in New Brunswick, NJ off exit 9 on the NJ Turnpike.

 

[Samplingman]

Fingers Radiator Hospital is located on rt1 in New Brunswick, NJ off exit 9 on the NJ Turnpike.

That’s about an hour north of me, good to know.

 

[JC68vert300]

Well, the radiator was in worse shape once we got it out of the car. I hadn’t really paid much attention to it since it hadn’t been losing antifreeze. The car also never ran hot. $625. Plus tax and 10 days at the radiator shop and it is ready to go back in. Here are before and after.

 

[polara71]

Nice. The only way to go.

 

[SPF Required]

It will be a worthwhile investment.

 

[73Coupe]

What's the going rate for a recore lately that y'all have experienced? $625 was last fall from what @JC68vert300 reported above in NJ.

I just got a quote for $1100 by the closest shop to me in Santa Maria which is about 40 min. south. All of the other radiator shops in my county have closed.

The shop says they get the cores built in San Bernardino which is in So-Cal.

The last time I had a C-body radiator recored around 2016 or so, it was in the $500 range. For F sake.

@MrMoparCHP

@saforwardlook

 

[73Coupe]

Before - Original core, lots of sediment, lots of corrosion inside.

Current status. Rodded out, leak tested, bubbles from the core.

Top of core, before cleaning:

After cleaning:

 

[ayilar]

Re-core/repair. Consider adding an additional row if a re-core is needed.

Second both recommendations.

 

[ayilar]

What's the going rate for a recore lately that y'all have experienced? $625 was last fall from what @JC68vert300 reported above in NJ.

I just got a quote for $1100 by the closest shop to me in Santa Maria which is about 40 min. south. All of the other radiator shops in my county have closed.

The shop says they get the cores built in San Bernardino which is in So-Cal.

The last time I had a C-body radiator recored around 2016 or so, it was in the $500 range. For F sake.

@MrMoparCHP

@saforwardlook

Depends on the number of rows. I paid $700-850 in Indiana for the last two rads that I had recored.

 

[Samplingman]

Mine was $442 in 2020, but it doesn't matter now, no one around here does them.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

I just purchased a 22" radiator for my Barracuda from Glen-ray Radiators for $1200 (no core)
The last 26" I had done Glen-ray was about $1200 (with core)

All within the last several years.


Alan