Anyone running an aluminum radiator?

mcorrell

mcorrell

Senior Member
With the cost of brass/copper stock appearing radiators topping $700 these days, I am tempted to try one in my '29 to replace the non leaking, but 2-row 1970s radiator that overheats on long grades and above 80° temps. The price seems fair and it will allow me to use the other money to fix the steering and other things needed to keep the car on the road and safe to pass down to my daughter one day.
 
mcorrell said:
With the cost of brass/copper stock appearing radiators topping $700 these days, I am tempted to try one in my '29 to replace the non leaking, but 2-row 1970s radiator that overheats on long grades and above 80° temps. The price seems fair and it will allow me to use the other money to fix the steering and other things needed to keep the car on the road and safe to pass down to my daughter one day.
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It's your money -and your car, but I would strongly encourage you to avoid the temptation to 'McGuyver' your car. Especially if you want it to be an heirloom. The aluminum radiators I have seen (-or heard about who tried them) do not fit. They are cheap for a reason, ...and it isn't solely because they are brass & copper. ;)
 
A guy in town bought an aluminum radiator on-line for his 1930 Town Sedan and it was an unmitigated disaster for fit. The filler neck was mislocated so that the shell had to be forced downward, yet still wouldn't seat properly. The cap wouldn't seat, either, because the shell was up too high. To put coolant in the radiator, he left the two bottom shell mounting bolts out so that he could swing the shell outwards from the bottom to remove the cap that he had to glue in place because it couldn't be twisted on. None of the four side brackets for securing the shell were lined up properly, so he had to re-drill the holes, using only the upper two with the nuts left loose. The upper water neck to the cylinder head was at the wrong angle, putting a noticeable "kink" in the upper hose, like a python that had swallowed a tin can. The core is aluminum silver instead of the correct black and the core design is odd-looking. VERY odd-looking to a seasoned Model A owner's eyes. Other than these problems, however... :)
On the positive side of the ledger, the guy said the engine didn't overheat. But he only drove it a couple times before he got rid of the radiator and then bought a quality Brassworks radiator (You know - the $700+ one?!) and that solved ALL of the above cited problems. He really regrets throwing away a bunch of money on that ill-fitting aluminum radiator. He lost a ton of money when he sold it, too. I hope the new owner has better luck with it.
Food for thought when considering buying an aluminum radiator because it's cheaper than the more expensive correct radiator. In this life, you usually get what you pay for. Sometimes you just gotta' bite the bullet and buy quality. A good radiator is one of those Model A items that it doesn't pay to go cheap.
By the way, I bought one of those two-row radiators from J.C. Whitney in 1973 and was miserable with it. It wouldn't cool a Model A in northern Michigan in late December during a blizzard. An absolute a waste of money. I'm surprised any of them are still in service.
Marshall
 
I did this with my 57 chevy nomad and it fit like a glove and was an easy install and worked well.


with that said, I would consider finding a good used model A rad first, because of what was mentioned above. It will look correct, fit correct and cool better then what you currently have.


I would be looking to buy from a guy who is or has installed a sbc in his build.
I do understand your pain at 700. there are always other options and 200. should buy you a good used original.
 
I have only seen one aluminum radiator installation. Plain and simple: the radiator did not even come close to fitting. It was sent back. JMHO it was junk and not worth the effort..
P.S. (It looked out of place and ugly on a Model A).
 
TomInCologne said:
Talking about radiators and repairing them... This is how it's done in india...
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Pretty much how radiators were rodded out here until about 15-20 years ago when replacing epoxied aluminum/plastic radiators rather than repairing them became the norm. The main difference is our shops didn't save/reuse solder and they had tanks of acid to clean the radiators not canfuls.
 
Thanks. I was hoping the quality and fit might have improved over the past few years. Guess I'll keep my driving to cool days and/or nights. While I usually don't treat my old cars as investments, it is hard to drop a lot of money into an "A" these days. I could easily spend $1500 on her for a new radiator and steering box rebuild just in parts and not have a car worth much more and only be just a bit of a better driver. I'd rather spend that on engine work to pick up power to keep up with traffic, which would only exacerbate poor cooling and steering. Maybe my '64 Buick convertible won't eat up my old car budget next year?
 
mcgarrett said:
Anybody had any experience with this one?

https://www.amazon.com/ALLOYWORKS-A...29-L-Head/dp/B07MYWBDBW/?tag=atomicindus08-20
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I could not afford to buy the Brassworks rad so I took the chance and bought an aluminium one from Amazon. Fitted perfectly and my car now runs too cool in hot Florida. Always 140 and below. I looked for one that looked as close as the original noting the side tabs shape and the correct filler neck for 1928-29. Everything fitted perfectly. My only issue no big deal was the core did not fill all the way across the shell looking from the front. At the sides the vertical aluminium frame showed about an inch on both sides. I have a stone gaurd so it did not show.

I would not buy the one in your link The filler neck is wrong for 1928-29. The bottom tank is incorrect as it is straight at he bottom. The mounting shell tabs are not shaped correctly as pretty sure you will have fitment issues.
 
ModelA29 said:
Pretty much how radiators were rodded out here until about 15-20 years ago when replacing epoxied aluminum/plastic radiators rather than repairing them became the norm. The main difference is our shops didn't save/reuse solder and they had tanks of acid to clean the radiators not canfuls.
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No pesky gloves for those guys!

I did like the way they reused the solder. I couldn’t tell if there was any chemical that was used and didn’t get splashed on their hands.
 
Years ago, I had a new radiator made here in Australia (it was very good) and I listened to the same guy speaking at a restoration seminar last weekend. He only does aluminium radiators these days. He says they are way better than copper/brass ones. I was not at all surprised to read the posts above about poor Al radiators you guys have after previous threads. All you have to do is buy from a good source. They might cost a few extra $ but they should work fine. They should be good value whereas the junk you are being sold now is no value if it doesn't even fit.
In short, you gets what you pays for!
 
The chinese aluminum radiators are like everything else coming out of that country...some are junk and some are very well done. There have been several posts on this subject in years past.
 
My engine has always run hot so I wanted to try a new radiator. The top notch brass radiators would cost upwards of $1500 and I just wanted to see if I could make any improvement so I got one of the $300 aluminum radiators. I knew there may be issues installing it but decided to live with it. This version has the filler neck under the hood so I adapted the quail radiator cap to the radiator shell so it would look right. I had to drill the radiator shell mounting holes into the radiator tabs and the mounting to the frame holes but the overall installation went pretty well. The radiator (Champion) installed pretty well, I painted the core with barbeque paint and it looks fine.
Net result: my car still runs hot.
I wish you lived near by, I would loan you my previous replacement Brassworks radiator to see if it worked for you.
 
ronn said:
Tom, might be worth sending 100 of them to India for a rebuild.............


:)
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if this guy was living next to me and i had a problem with my radiator, i would gladly give it to him because he does leave the impression that he knows what he is doing.


On the other hand... health & safety at work and the environment? i am glad that he is not living and working next to me.
 
ModelA29 said:
Pretty much how radiators were rodded out here until about 15-20 years ago when replacing epoxied aluminum/plastic radiators rather than repairing them became the norm. The main difference is our shops didn't save/reuse solder and they had tanks of acid to clean the radiators not canfuls.
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... and hopefully they had a workbench... and some safety shoes... and proper gloves... and safety goggles...


i always cringe when i see people with an angle grinder and no eye protection. i mean, yes, you have two eyes, but....
 
On the other hand... health & safety at work and the environment? i am glad that he is not living and working next to me.



Tom, you cant have it all! lol


the point of this thread is a fella has a budget, so what will it be? safety and cleanleness at 1500.


or a hoj poj shop for 50 dolla!!!!!!!!!!!!! (that seemingly does a good job)

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