Had my G-10 Radiator Re-cored! (For E and A guys too)

Just got my re-cored radiator back from the shop today!  Here are some pictures of my old, original 1964 core, yikes, guy said it was 75%+ clogged and so bad that boiling would not have cleaned it out.  Looking at the pictures, I'd say it was worse than that, only a handful of the tubes are clear.  No wonder I was running hot all the time.  The original radiator was stamped Harrison on the tanks which I found out was a division of GM just like Delco, they made all GM radiators back in the day.  The original radiator has 1/2" tubes spaced at 9/16" centers according to the guy at the shop, which BTW was very hard to locate, seems all the new plastic and aluminum throw away radiators have made these shops dry up, most of the old school shops that know how to solder and braze in my area were gone and this place was hanging on by doing commercial trucks and buses, they are a dying breed.  The guy suggested that I get it re-cored using a commercial truck grade core, 5/8" tubes spaced at 3/8" which gives 2 rows X 45 = 90 tubes vs. the original's 2 X 32=64 tubes, so, in theory the cooling capacity should be much higher, I won't know until warm weather, months away.  But here the pics of the old core and what happens to them after 50 years....
These will make you think....


The shop:

"New" radiator


I'll post some better pics of it after I install it.  He did a real nice job, used my tanks and frame preserving the angle of the top tank perfectly, that's another reason not to try to retrofit an aluminum radiator into our vans, the stock radiator sits at a forward angle and the tank is mounted at a bevel to compensate for the cap and in/out pipes are angled as well.  Finally, this was not cheap, boiling would have been less than $100, this was close to $400 to have done due to the high cost of copper these days.

Yup, not cheap...but fits like a glove. I did the same thing and went for a fresh core(3) and my tanks and brackets. To me this is the best way to go..."IF" you have a rad you can use. I don't think you will be disappointed, and neither will your van. This "flushing the rad" seems like a money grab kinda thing to me. I just don't see how anyone can clean these 50 year old radiators, without actually taking them apart to visually inspect that they are clear. While some have had success...I think if your going to do a project like this and you want reliability...ya might as well spend the money and get something NEW. With the cooling problems all these vans had right out of the factory....A new rad will only make things better in the long run. jm2c

Make sure you flush the BLOCK OUT ... BEFORE YOU HOOK THE HOSES UP .... that radiator is all copper & brass .... wont rust .... all that crap your looking at in that old Radiator came strait out of the Motor !!!!

I miss the "Old School" radiator shop's also we have one left in my area (Marion Radiator) that has been in the same spot since the 50's they recore radaitors heater cores and repair and reline gas tanks..!!!..I am suprised you had any coolant flowing through that one as plugged as it was should make a "BIG" difference now.. ...

Update, some installed pics.  Got it running and after letting it warm up 20 mins, temp stayed between 140-160, peaked at 165 and back down to 160...granted it was below 20 degrees outside, but before it would warm up to 195-205 even in the cold....heater still worked fine, so it looks like I have a real cooling system now and if I run 30 degrees, even 20, cooler in hot weather, I'm a happy man!

For the new overflow tube I used a piece of a sink sprayer reinforced hose, perfect fit.  That red thing on the choke knob is a key marker, no practical purpose, just for looks.  Caution Fan sticker homemade, P-touch label maker, just s reminder when I'm fiddling with things...also note, I have my doghouse seal on the lid, not the rim, the silver is foil HVAC tape to seal the insulation mat to the top edge, not visible with the lid shut.

Note the closer spaced tubes than a stock radiator.

You can see the larger 5/8" tubes through the coolant. For the record, I'm running a 13 Lb. cap and a 180 thermostat.

That looks great in there. Happy motor=happy vanning. Now if you can find a fan shroud, you would be able to pull more air through that rad and probably not have to worry about over heating at a traffic light in stop and go traffic. That shroud will make the fan act like a vacume and really make that motor happy happy. Without it most of the air coming through is forced through only while you are moving forward. You are still getting air through without it, but the shroud will maximize the air flow and make it really efficient.

Looks Great .....

Big W wrote:That looks great in there. Happy motor=happy vanning. Now if you can find a fan shroud, you would be able to pull more air through that rad and probably not have to worry about over heating at a traffic light in stop and go traffic. That shroud will make the fan act like a vacume and really make that motor happy happy. Without it most of the air coming through is forced through only while you are moving forward. You are still getting air through without it, but the shroud will maximize the air flow and make it really efficient.

I have a chrome shroud that I had on before the re-core, it goes about 3/4 around the fan, but I want to wait until warm weather to see what happens. Plus I figure with the engine so enclosed in a doghouse like these vans, its already in a "big shroud" to start with and can only pull air from the front and through the radiator.  My engine has a 5-blade fan too, many had the four blade, I think a PO changed it out many years ago. The shroud mounted to the radiator with plastic rods through the core and I don't want to booger the nice new fins.  I plan to make brackets that attach to the mounting bolts and top frame if I use/need it at all!  One thing I did was raise the idle to about 600 rpm over the stock 450 spec, this helps keep air moving in slow traffic.

Ah ok..super good.

Good job on the radiator.I know you'll be happy with it.
Y'all are right,we live in a disposable world and radiators are no different.The talent to do this has gone away and EPA guidelines are tough just like a chrome plating shop.
Looks like that guys shop has a history with it.From a real service station,body shop to rad shop through the years.I could see me living in something like that.Heh

Nightmoves wrote:Good job on the radiator.I know you'll be happy with it.
Y'all are right,we live in a disposable world and radiators are no different.The talent to do this has gone away and EPA guidelines are tough just like a chrome plating shop.
Looks like that guys shop has a history with it.From a real service station,body shop to rad shop through the years.I could see me living in something like that.Heh

He took me in the back, a classic, old steel soldering table, dip tanks filled with coolant, anti freeze green all over the floors. The guy, in his 60's, was hand crafting a new bottom tank for an old commercial truck radiator from brass flat stock, way cool, when I was there, a lost art, real craftsmen, a two man operation. Said he would also coat my gas tank if I bring it in, maybe in the spring!

Vantasia wrote:Just got my re-cored radiator back from the shop today!  Here are some pictures of my old, original 1964 core, yikes, guy said it was 75%+ clogged and so bad that boiling would not have cleaned it out.  Looking at the pictures, I'd say it was worse than that, only a handful of the tubes are clear.  No wonder I was running hot all the time.  The original radiator was stamped Harrison on the tanks which I found out was a division of GM just like Delco, they made all GM radiators back in the day.  The original radiator has 1/2" tubes spaced at 9/16" centers according to the guy at the shop, which BTW was very hard to locate, seems all the new plastic and aluminum throw away radiators have made these shops dry up, most of the old school shops that know how to solder and braze in my area were gone and this place was hanging on by doing commercial trucks and buses, they are a dying breed.  The guy suggested that I get it re-cored using a commercial truck grade core, 5/8" tubes spaced at 3/8" which gives 2 rows X 45 = 90 tubes vs. the original's 2 X 32=64 tubes, so, in theory the cooling capacity should be much higher, I won't know until warm weather, months away.  But here the pics of the old core and what happens to them after 50 years....
These will make you think....


The shop:

"New" radiator


I'll post some better pics of it after I install it.  He did a real nice job, used my tanks and frame preserving the angle of the top tank perfectly, that's another reason not to try to retrofit an aluminum radiator into our vans, the stock radiator sits at a forward angle and the tank is mounted at a bevel to compensate for the cap and in/out pipes are angled as well.  Finally, this was not cheap, boiling would have been less than $100, this was close to $400 to have done due to the high cost of copper these days.

I had my radiator re-cored also. The copper tubes are actually a thicker gauge of copper used in commercial truck radiators. It also cost me around $400. There was a crack in the top tank so the guy silver soldered the crack. He said that regular solder would give out over time and silver will last a life time.

ChevyVanMan wrote:

Vantasia wrote:Just got my re-cored radiator back from the shop today!  Here are some pictures of my old, original 1964 core, yikes, guy said it was 75%+ clogged and so bad that boiling would not have cleaned it out.  Looking at the pictures, I'd say it was worse than that, only a handful of the tubes are clear.  No wonder I was running hot all the time.  The original radiator was stamped Harrison on the tanks which I found out was a division of GM just like Delco, they made all GM radiators back in the day.  The original radiator has 1/2" tubes spaced at 9/16" centers according to the guy at the shop, which BTW was very hard to locate, seems all the new plastic and aluminum throw away radiators have made these shops dry up, most of the old school shops that know how to solder and braze in my area were gone and this place was hanging on by doing commercial trucks and buses, they are a dying breed.  The guy suggested that I get it re-cored using a commercial truck grade core, 5/8" tubes spaced at 3/8" which gives 2 rows X 45 = 90 tubes vs. the original's 2 X 32=64 tubes, so, in theory the cooling capacity should be much higher, I won't know until warm weather, months away.  But here the pics of the old core and what happens to them after 50 years....
These will make you think....


The shop:

"New" radiator


I'll post some better pics of it after I install it.  He did a real nice job, used my tanks and frame preserving the angle of the top tank perfectly, that's another reason not to try to retrofit an aluminum radiator into our vans, the stock radiator sits at a forward angle and the tank is mounted at a bevel to compensate for the cap and in/out pipes are angled as well.  Finally, this was not cheap, boiling would have been less than $100, this was close to $400 to have done due to the high cost of copper these days.

I had my radiator re-cored also. The copper tubes are actually a thicker gauge of copper used in commercial truck radiators. It also cost me around $400. There was a crack in the top tank so the guy silver soldered the crack. He said that regular solder would give out over time and silver will last a life time.

Cool, no pun intended, that's what my new core looked like before re-soldering. Mine was $385 total plus some tax. I figure the core cost him at least $150-200 and the rest was labor but he did the job in only 2-days!

160 deg is a little low. Now that you've got a good radiator you may want to swap the thermostat back to 180 or 190. Should maintain now, was probably swapped in an attempt to fix overheating problems. These engines like to run a little warmer, so long as you can maintain.

Seth G wrote:160 deg is a little low. Now that you've got a good radiator you may want to swap the thermostat back to 180 or 190. Should maintain now, was probably swapped in an attempt to fix overheating problems. These engines like to run a little warmer, so long as you can maintain.

I put a new 180 in along with the core. The PO had a 195 in there with the clogged core. I really won't know until the weather warms up, has been below 25 every time I test it and with the wind chill coming through the grill, probably near zero, so no wonder it won't warm over 160...the used to put cardboard in front of grills to let cars warm up back in the day so you's get enough heat!

Yeah I remember that. I'm from Indiana

Looks good Vantasia. I'm considering doing this to my rad now. We'll see what my budget permits

Follow-up to this post! Since I had this work done in February I had to wait for warm weather to really evaluate how it worked. Well, today, Memorial Day, was the big test I've been waiting for! I drove Vantasia in two back to back parades, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon when it reached 90 degrees here in NJ. Happy to report under brutal parade conditions, about 2 miles of stop and go at each event in the heat, the temp gauge never went over 185! Maybe close to 190 at the end of the 2nd parade but back down to under 180 after each parade ended and I returned to normal driving and airflow. So I'd say it passed the test, this is all you need to solve cooling a six, a good re-cored radiator with extra rows of bigger tubes when you get it done! It was worth the cost, less than the price of a mag wheel and one tire....I may never look at my temp gauge again. Hope all had a safe and happy holiday!