You can always look for a long term good one. Meantime study the aluminum jobs on ebay and elsewhere. Many of those sellers are good at showing dimensions and hose spigot locations.
Johnson’s radiators -brass Brice Thomas/US radiator - brass and aluminum (OE style stamped tanks and fabricated) Brass Works These made in USA Champion- good overseas aluminum
X2 regarding Brice Thomas if you go aluminum. Brass Works otherwise. You could buy a dozen eggs and put up with the one you have but that is the more expensive option.
That radiator is tall and narrow, so finding anything used will be a challenge. New avenues are aluminum and brass/copper. Low end aluminum radiators are all over the map as far as quality, but Champion seems to be OK. Medium grade aluminum such as Wizard Cooling are made in the USA, as well as higher quality Griffin, Brice Thomas, and US Radiator. The last 3 are pricey though. Brass Radiators from Johnson, Brass Works, and US Radiator are all going to be pricey but well made. Edit: Wizard Cooling lists 4 for that application in the $650 range.
I've had really good experiences with these guys...including fully custom built exact copies of mock up radiators I made of styrofoam and cardboard (to fit a blown '39 Willys). Performance Rod & Custom https://prchotrod.com PRC Custom Radiators
I just put a Champion in a 60 F100 bought from Champion with a life time warranty and you would not find one that looks any better. Last week I put a Murray brand from O'reilly's in a Dodge truck. They wanted $520 and I got them down to $400 and it has a life time warranty and looks as good as the Champion ( they did not offer one for this truck ) for me the warranty is worth a lot. Plus I will pay more and by local , I am a faithful customer. Time will tell how they hold up.
Goggle Superior radiator, Mt Clemens, MI. The have built 3 for me and the quality is in the name. They primarily build for the heavy truck industry, so they know what they are doing. Send them your specs and I am sure they can meet them. Warren
You didn't post the city & state you live but in the bigger cities there are usually a radiator shop that repairs and fabricates radiators, try the yellow pages. HRP
I have had multiple aluminum radiators , some OEM , some aftermarket , all have lasted 20 years plus , how long is " LONG TERM" ?? I'd guess that most radiator failures are the result. Of faulty/ careless mounting or operator abuse .
I've never personally used this company but the rep is good from what I hear. The Radiator Lady - Welcome I have used this company for radiator repair on a flathead radiator and a new heater core for my '54 Ranxh Wagon. They custom build radiators as well. Fontana Radiator | Heavy Equipment, Aluminum, Brass, Custom & Motorcycle Radiator Repair
The thing I really dislike about aluminum radiators is they look so out of place to me! Radiators are supposed to be black to this old guy. Paint them black and they don't look like a brass knob on an outhouse door! I guess what I'm saying is: Traditional hot rods don't have aluminum radiators!
Phrased that way in deference to those who still turn their nose up at the budget aluminum radiators. I've bought three of em now, and put miles on those three cars.
Champion, Last I knew were made in socal, An i believe $30.00 fee to custom locate outlets.. Fantastic quality, Never had a problem with one...
Foreign tig welded aluminum has come so far in the last 1.5 decades that I would consider those radiators to be a "long term good one" I have one sitting around and it's beautiful. On par with the kind of high end domestically made stuff from 2000 or so.
I use radiators that fit 65 V8 mustang in all my early Mopar Fits inside the grill shells and cools just fine. Hope this helps There are many companies selling them on line
[QUOTE=" Paint them black and they don't look like a brass knob on an outhouse door![/QUOTE] What is wrong with that? Ben
I bought one made by Alloyworks from Amazon and it fit nicely and the quality is outstanding. Time will tell how long it lasts.
Have a Champion in my 55, going on 4 years old and no issues. Put an ebay no name replacement in my beater Dodge Dakota at about the same time, aluminum with plastic tanks, looked exactly like the original. $83 shipped to my door and it is still doing fine! FYI, Mark
Why be like that , there's a lot of things the clique around here sticks their collective noses in the air about , so what ?
Skip the middleman and go right to the source. How Vehicle Radiators Are Manufactured for Efficiency | Watch
I have a 37 Plymouth too. I used a Walker. I know they have sold or went out of business. If they are still making them I have had good luck with it. SBC too.
My Coupe has a $1200 Brass Works pressure radiator in it. Runs 160 ALL the time. My Speedster will have a $100 FleaBay aluminum radiator. Just a mater of economics and my expected short distance use of it. Most of the radiators sold at auto parts stores today come from the same ChiCom companies that sells them on ebay.
My OT daily is 33 years old. It came with an aluminum one that went bad! At 29 YEARS! Replacement from Rock Auto was just shy of $150. Struggles to run 180 in the Texas heat. If the replacement last as well as the original, in 230 years or so I will have spent the $1200 the high dollar ones cost. Ben
And here's your aluminum core. Couldn't find a video of them attaching one to the end tanks but I didn't look very hard.
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