Griffin won't fix them. At least mine they wouldn't. Brackets & outlets are all tig welded. The tank to tubes are epoxy'd, not welded. According to Griffin- it's to prevent leaks due to vibration. Guess where they usually start leaking? Yep- right at the tube to tank connection. Now when mine failed- and couldn't find anyone to repair it- we ground out the epoxy at the leak. It was epoxy only- no welding of any kind. Now this was in 2003 & a downflow for a tri-five Chevy, all show polished. Griffin's answer was to order a new radiator that it wasn't worth their time to repair. So I did order a new one.......from PRC. The PRC was welded- no epoxy. Now I know alot of people who love Griffin Radiators- but that was my experience. Now on their website- their HD truck radiators are vacuum braised. But the other stuff is still epoxy'd. Now maybe they have changed since 03- welding, then epoxying over the weld but think about it- what a PITA to make a repair. I'll take a brass Walker anyday!
In a racing application maybe... but in the real world that the vast majority of people live in... it's complete bullshyte. Also... how much faster do you think that coolant is moving with a high volume pump with the big restrictor in the system that most people refer to as a thermostat? This is some funny shit... that must explain why Visteon who makes radiators for Ford stopped doing it in 1994... because in time the cheap shit cracked and leaked from expansion and contraction during heating and cooling cycles. Our shop has probably sold over a 1000 radiators over the years to replace radiators with EPOXY tube to plate headers. Some manufacturers use epoxy over the tube to header brazing to basically cover up the poor brazing job and give themselves a little extra insurance... but it's like putting a friggin' band-aid on a bullet wound because in time it's GOING to leak. The shop I work for has been doing this since 1964 in it's present location and the senior owner propieter has been fixing radiators since the Model T was a "slightly used car"
I have to stand corrected, I looked at mine again today, and the tubes are epoxied in...for sure I thought when I ordered the dang thing I researched it read it was supposed to be fully welded.
I've had a Griffin rad for 18yrs with only 1 repair made by Griffin for me. 2 things I have learned. Never put an alum. rad in a pressure test tank that had copper brass rad. in it. There is a chemical reaction to the alumn. and the epoxy used on the Griffin rads. 2 use recommended coolant with DISTILLED water,50/50 mix...….
When Buddy Griffin's shop was in Townville, South Carolina and was building radiators for NASCAR and dirt track racers I took my original 40 Ford radiator to him to see if he could build me a aluminum radiator. He agreed to give it a try if I wanted to be the Guinea pig,that was the first street rod radiator he made and gave me a 10 year warranty. From day one that radiator didn't cool properly,I was persuaded to buy a huge electric fan and it still didn't cool. I tried different pulleys,water wetters and ever suggestion know at that time and driving to the Nationals in Columbus, Ohio in heavy bumper to bumper traffic the car over heated and hurt the engine. After getting back home I pulled the radiator and took it back to Buddy and they decided to make me a new radiator but first the shop foreman through it up on the band saw and cut the cooling tubes from the tanks, he was shocked ro see half the cooling tubes were clogged with epoxy. I got a new radiator but never installed it, I already lost a engine because I was trying to save a few buck and is the number one reason I don't like aluminum radiators & electric fans. Copper/brass radiator worked for Henry and works for me,I have used 8 Walker radiators to date and both our cars run them,the oldest is now 30 years old. HRP
Buddy Griffin got into the 60's musclcar radiator reproduction deal in the 80's, he used to claim "just like oem". So I ordered an L79 radiator for my Nova, finally get it and it's got a bottom tank with auto trans cooler fittings on it. Call up ol Buddy and tell him GM never offered automatic transmissions in L79 equipped cars, says ship it back and they'll fix it. I get it back and the asshat didn't even clean off the burnt paint from the tank removal, just slobbered that gummy radiator paint all over it. Thing looked like it came out of a wrecking yard.
Copper/brass, or aluminum? My Falcon is still running the same copper and brass radiator that it rolled off the assembly line with, 58-years ago, this August. Anybody seen an aluminium one do that?
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