Radiators.

[Mr Grumpy]

My radiator gets damp at the top of the cores when it gets hot, it's 45 years old so I'm hardly surprised.
The Spectra premium part# is CU506, Spectra now list this as obsolete and don't produce it any more.
I found a site here in Canada (WrenchMonkey), that listed one as being "In Stock" so I ordered it, thinking it must be old stock sitting on the shelf, about 250 + taxes, free shipping.
They now tell me that it's no longer produced (no s**t sherlock) and they can't find anyone that does. So I told them to refund me.
I can probably get mine rebuilt locally, but it would have been nice to get a new one and have the old core as a spare.
I haven't been able to find anyone else making new either.
What's anyone else running?
I'm not a purist, it doesn't have to be original, cheap and functional are my watchwords.

 

[Newport 66]

Check with Cold Case, they're members here. Look in the vendors section. Good luck

 

[mr. fix it]

Can you provide any details on the rad that you have right now?
Part#’s and number of rows in the rad.

the year and model of car as well.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Can you provide any details on the rad that you have right now?
Part#’s and number of rows in the rad.

the year and model of car as well.

It's a 76 Newport 2dr 400ci. Looks like the original factory rad.

 

[ayilar]

@Mr Grumpy: the CU506 is still listed on the manufacturer's site -- see Product

I see it listed at a number of online vendors, but when I click on the links the unit was noted as "unavailable."

--> I would reach out to SP directly and ask them.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

@Mr Grumpy: the CU506 is still listed on the manufacturer's site -- see Product

I see it listed at a number of online vendors, but when I click on the links the unit was noted as "unavailable."

--> I would reach out to SP directly and ask them.

I already did, here's their reply.

to me, Spectra

Good day,



Unfortunately, the CU506 is obsolete and we don’t have any replacement for it.



We no longer produce or have this part in stock.



We are sorry for the inconvenient.



Thank you



Spectra Question Technique

Spectra Technical Question

Spectra Premium Industries Inc.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Check with Cold Case, they're members here. Look in the vendors section. Good luck

Thanks, I had a look on their site, seems like good kit, but with shipping to Canada and customs duty and taxes etc etc it's prohibitively expensive for me.

 

[Samplingman]

Last August I looked into getting the Spectra CU332 for my '70. Rock Auto had them for $181. I hesitated, and then went to order in October and the price had jumped to $281. A week later they were gone, off the website. I noticed on the Spectra site it has the Maple Leaf - For Canadian Market only. I wonder if this is a pandemic related shortage? The Spectra seemed like a reasonable replacement and very popular with the C body crowd. Now I see at least 6 of them on Ebay for $500 - $800.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

I

Last August I looked into getting the Spectra CU332 for my '70. Rock Auto had them for $181. I hesitated, and then went to order in October and the price had jumped to $281. A week later they were gone, off the website. I noticed on the Spectra site it has the Maple Leaf - For Canadian Market only. I wonder if this is a pandemic related shortage? The Spectra seemed like a reasonable replacement and very popular with the C body crowd. Now I see at least 6 of them on Ebay for $500 - $800.

You have a few more options for yours, in that the dimensions and inlet outlet placement are very similar to 70s and 80s Dodge Trucks and Ramchargers CU889 is almost identical to CU332

 

[ayilar]

Last August I looked into getting the Spectra CU332 for my '70. Rock Auto had them for $181. I hesitated, and then went to order in October and the price had jumped to $281. A week later they were gone, off the website. I noticed on the Spectra site it has the Maple Leaf - For Canadian Market only. I wonder if this is a pandemic related shortage? The Spectra seemed like a reasonable replacement and very popular with the C body crowd. Now I see at least 6 of them on Ebay for $500 - $800.

I had a similar experience when I acquired a rad for Snow White, my N-code Polara 'vert. With COVID-19 transport restrictions, I jumped on the Spectra Premium CU332 that I could get from RA and paid the higher price you mentioned. Precisely, I paid $281.79 + tax and shipping (which was only $10.99, amazingly for such a big part).

That was back in June 2020. @sixpkrt got one a year before I did, for about $90 less if memory serves. Right now, however, the CU332 seems to be unavailable at all the places I generally buy from (Summit, Rock Auto, CarId).

Either there is some variations at the same sellers over time, or there is a shortage, or SP has stopped making those reproduction units. The last possibility would be bad. In that case, the two units available from Amazon at $320 with free shipping might be a good idea. Before doing so, reaching out to Spectra about the 332 would be wise.

 

[The Goose]

If you want something that’ll work but you’re having a hard time application wise remember you can always move the inlet and outlet to suit your specific application. Most competent radiator shops can do this for around $20 to $40. This way you can choose virtually anything that fits your core support. I moved up from my wheezy 19 incher to a big block size for my 69 318 Fury. I only made sure it had the auto trans hookup and it fit my core support bolt pattern. Right middle or left outlets were of no consequence. Made the upgrade real easy...

Happy hunting.

 

[CBODY67]

Just checked RA, "332" aluminum 2 or 3 row radiators are listed again, at seemingly decent prices. If you don't have to have an OEM-look radiator. I suspect the 332 will go all the way back to '65 and '66, to replace the older round top radiators of that time and then up to about '72 or '73, hose location dependent. I bought Modine 332s for my '67 and '70 C-bodies. OEM quality and durability in all respects, usually cheaper than I could get them re-cored for.

The '74-'78 cars might not have enough demand to keep those radiators in stock, but I would also suspect that a good radiator shop (which uses OEM-spec solder) should be able to recore one with a higher-efficiency core than they came with? Usually, in many metro areas, there is at least ONE radiator shop that does a high volume of quality work, having been there for many decades, too, which might be a place to check. Check with some of the larger body shops to see where they might get radiators from for their collision work.

Just because a repro vendor considers something "olsolete" does not always mean the same thing that WE consider "obsolete". For them, it's more about faster-moving inventory rather than the age of the vehicle.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[73Coupe]

In all my experience, nothing beats the quality of a recored original, if done right. Copper, brass, lead.... who needs beverage can material?

Plus you can upgrade to a three-core if your current core is two.

 

[CBODY67]

There can be, from my experiences, to "Ifs" in that deal. The first one is that IF the thickness and width of the flanges of the tank, which is where the solder holds the tank to the new core, are still substantial to be soldered and reliably hold things together and leak-free.

The other "If" is related to the quality of the solder being used. When we had several radiator shops in our town (of about 10K people, in the 1960s), there were a few that did good work and others' work which needed to be re-done in about three years. Given the general prosperity of that era, people didn't normally keep a car longer than three years, which meant only ONE re-core before they got another car. When a used car might need a re-core after a year of so, it was somewhat expected, it seemed. A few of the ones we had done would usually last about 2 years before a tank/core interface leak would appear.

When I went to work for the dealership, we took our radiators to a shop in the nearby metro area. Their re-dos lasted much longer, by observation. Which is where I took my own stuff, as a result. The difference? Had to be the solder they used and/or the cleanliness of the flanges before they were soldered. Again, IF the tank flanges were still thick and wide enough to be successfully soldered (and it hold up).

One other chemical-related item I ran across in a BASF coolant pamphlet (back in the '70s), is that ethylene glycol and lead don't like each other. Which is what the additive package in the coolant seeks to eliminate. When that additive package deteriorates with age and use, then the lead can be attacked by the ethylene glycol component. Which is one reason the old "green" coolant needed changing every so often.

In later years, after I saw the much greater efficiency of the plastic tank/aluminum core radiators (at the OEM level and on one of my cars, replacing a 3-core Modine), I was impressed with that type of radiator and would not hesitate to use them (in an older vehicle where originality was not of prime importance). Many of them seem to be highly-affordable, by comparison (depending upon the prevailing price of aluminum). When the VW Rabbit radiators were found to be a light-weight alternative for BB Chevy-engined drag racers, that was sonething to consider, too.

I also understand both sides of that deal. The decline of the number of good radiator shops in smaller towns. The ready-availability of "new-style" radiators with a wave of the magic plastic and a few mouse clicks. Whatever works for whomever is doing it!

Enjoy!
CBODY67