New vs Old Radiators

So, I have been having consistent overheating issues and tank seep at the seam on my F100. There are alot of parts worth the rebuild investment. Alot of parts are engineered better now as well. What's the story on radiator technology? Is it smarter to workover the old one or run new?

 

The technology has improved significantly. The fins are thinner and more densely packed, providing much better heat rejection. The materials are more constant and refined, and the sealing technology is greatly improved. Bottom line, a new rad, whether it is aluminum or copper and br*** will out perform the original by a fairly wide margin.

 

Makes perfect sense and answers my question. Sounds like a no brainer.

 

br***/copper is a better at transfering heat but soft compaired to aluminum so they can make the tubes thinner and wider than br*** ones . but the only problem is a aluminum one when it does leak you have to have a shop that specializes in aluminum repair it or replace the whole unit , no soldering will work and thin aluminum take a special touch to to try to gas weld , but the alumimum units are now becoming reasonable in price vs br***/copper units . my alu Poncho rad is 1/3 the price of the same unit in br*** , and the guy who built it made sure it had more than area to cool the charge , but also the v-8's seam to run a bit cooler than the straight 8's

 

It depends on where the leak is and what the current conditon of your radiator is. If your top and bottom tanks are in good condition it may be cost effective to have the radiator re-cored. if the tanks are shot then going the new option is the way to go.

Aluminium will give you the looks and weight savings but be mindful that stray electrical currents in your coolant will cause electrolysis in an Ali radiator and corrosion could set in. Like the white powder you get around the thermostat housing when you remove your top radiator hose. The housing becomes a sacraficial anode. If you do go the Aluminum line make sure to run a good earth strap to the radiator body and make sure your engine and ch***is grounds are good.

For people who are reading this thinking no way. place your multimeter probes into your coolant with the engine running and see what DC voltage reading you get. Its not uncommon to see between 1 -2v DC. Electricity always travel the path of least resistance and coolant is a brilliant conductor. Another positive to maintaining your electrical system.

 

I recore when I can, aluminum is great until it leaks. Never had an issue with a rebuilt radiator, finding a good shop is key.

 

I use Walker and ran a Hot B Banger in my 29 Pk Up in the Virgin Islands. Temp is 85 in winter and 95 in summer. I ran a 32 V8 water pump (NO FAN) pressurized system and even with a 180 stat it never ran hot, never, even in traffic. Iceman

 

Buy a new radiator for your F-100 from a reputable supplier and don't look back. You'll buy a new one for less money than a custom reman. F-100s never have cooling problems when everything is set up correctly.

 

You can buy an anode that goes in place of the pet**** helps with the corrosion

 

Overheating may be caused by the radiator or it may be caused by a mul***ude of other problems.

new v old is a hard question to answer. new is often less expensive that salvaging an old part especially when it comes to radiators. Some of us hang onto our old radiators for nostalgic reasons and one could certainly have a modern core put in an old radiator and this is normally cheaper then to have a period core put in (by about half as has been my experience). Is any one of the alternatives better then the other? Well as long as it keeps your engine cool all that is the concern is cost and or period correctness I suppose.

 

I think I 'll recore and see how we do. I really hate seeing modern **** under the hood. My pickups only got 80k miles, and so far nothing's been too far worn to rebuild as new. I really think a shroud would help too. Could be time to look at the water pump too.

 

I had my rad recored in my '41 IHC.. because there was no aftermarket available at the time..The shop recored with what they called high efficiency core and will cool any engine I care to use. The original core would have been a industrial core and not nearly as efficient. I like having a 40 pound rad.. the aftermarket aluminum for my truck is now available,,weighs about 4 pounds courtesy of the fine folks in Taiwan,