pictures of my original harrison radiator being recored. 1987

[weider1717]

I had this done he was nice enough to send pictures and I also had him record my original harrison heater core at the same time.

I really recommend this guys you keep to keep your harrison side tanks which are metal instead of those plastic repros. Anything repro is usually not as good (yes griffin etc is better) but if you're wanting to stay original I suggest this route I've been pleased.

Notice the tag on the side tank that tag tells the year and other info about the truck be sure to keep this and reinstall.

Went back with a 3 row core just as the original and I bet money this will last another very long time like the original instead of replacing your rad ever2-5 years with made in China crap.

[enaberif]

The issue is that most places will charge MORE for working on a radiator than it costs to buy a new one.

If OEM is your thing and you want to stay as close to original condition as possible then go ahead... but myself I'll buy a new one every couple of years for $150 if need be.

[tucsonjwt]

I applaud originality, if that is your cup of tea. However, here in the desert I found that copper/brass doesn't hold up as well as I thought.

All 3 or my squares had the original radiators and they all got to the point of having so many leaks that the repair shops would not repair them. My recent net cost sub $100 plastic/aluminum will reveal how well these last in the desert heat, especially cooling a big block. At least it has a lifetime warranty from Autozone.

[weider1717]

Originally Posted by enaberif

The issue is that most places will charge MORE for working on a radiator than it costs to buy a new one.

If OEM is your thing and you want to stay as close to original condition as possible then go ahead... but myself I'll buy a new one every couple of years for $150 if need be.

You're correct that it does cost more upfront and it hurt but I am hoping with doing a proper flush every 2-3 years it should last like the original and be way ahead of that $150 repro every few years.

This lasted from 1987 until recently! if it last that again I'm a happy camper and money well spent.

To the other post yes there are better cooling options out there and whats cool if you can keep the original tanks and go with better cooling cores with more and larger cores so long as they fit the tanks but sounds like you needed even better cooling than that! At that point the only way someone would know would be to look into the filler cap at the core to tell if it's been changed.

Just sharing what I did since it's not done a lot and maybe someone may consider it next time.

[68Timber]

Most of us have squares that have only managed to survive and originality like that left the table long before we bought them. I can appreciate you doing that to your truck though. Is he going to paint it black or leave that for you to do?

[weider1717]

Yes, I received It painted black.

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by weider1717

Yes, I received It painted black.

Cool. Keep up the good work, I get it and think it's worth it.

[71swb4x4]

Originally Posted by enaberif

The issue is that most places will charge MORE for working on a radiator than it costs to buy a new one.

If OEM is your thing and you want to stay as close to original condition as possible then go ahead... but myself I'll buy a new one every couple of years for $150 if need be.

How much more do you think it cost him? His last one lasted 28 years, and this one probably will too. And in your words, you would rather spend $150 plus your time to replace it every couple years?

On a similar note, I needed my gas tank boiled out last week. I used to have that done at one of our local radiator shops. Our last radiator shop in town closed last year so now the closest place is over an hour away. It's too bad, everyone goes to the store and buys something new and throws the old repairable item away. And then we turn around and complain that we can't find anyone that does good work anymore. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why, not many people are willing to pay for quality anymore. If we don't frequent the knowledgable mom and pop shops, there aren't going to be any of those when we need them.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by 71swb4x4

How much more do you think it cost him? His last one lasted 28 years, and this one probably will too. And in your words, you would rather spend $150 plus your time to replace it every couple years?

On a similar note, I needed my gas tank boiled out last week. I used to have that done at one of our local radiator shops. Our last radiator shop in town closed last year so now the closest place is over an hour away. It's too bad, everyone goes to the store and buys something new and throws the old repairable item away. And then we turn around and complain that we can't find anyone that does good work anymore. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why, not many people are willing to pay for quality anymore. If we don't frequent the knowledgable mom and pop shops, there aren't going to be any of those when we need them.

To give you an example I was needing to have a end tank replaced on a radiator and it was going to cost me over $200 to have that done and I bought a new one for less than $120.

[walkerb]

I had one done last year, cost me $300. It was for a 74 250 and they could only recore it to a 3 core vs the original 2 core IIRC

[Ski-me]

Looks great! Nice work!

[Tom]

Original is nice, glad you were able to save this one!

[87ChevyR10]

Sweet! Enjoy seeing your progress and one day I may have to do the same with my own! Keep the info/pics coming!

[Matt Man]

I still have a brass radiator that came out of my k10 when I put the new motor in earlier this year. I took it to 2 shops and they both wanted 400+ $$$ to recore it and won't guarantee the work. I ordered a aftermarket one, and so far so good but at 135$ I can buy 2 of these before I would go over the 400 bucks to recore the brass one. I wish I had the funds at the time to recore it though, cause it fit perfect in there.

[homemade87]

If mine goes out I am going to try one of these . I will have to measure but I think it is a direct fit for my 82 . http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sg...olet/model/c10


Also you will be doing yourself a favor if you only use distilled water in the cooling system

[RootBeerFXS]

I was just quoted $600 to re-core, $650 for a NOS they found and $165 for a PTR (plastic tank radiator) for my '76.