Should a radiator recore cost over $500?

This radiator is for an 1950 ford 8ba. I took it to a reputable radiator shop in town to get inspected and cleaned if it needed it. I got a quote back of 520 dollars to have it recored. I didn't see it leaking when I had it filled up before and it seemed to hold water fine. to me I feel like it's a lot of money for a stock/recored radiator... am I wrong or just being cheap?

I don't have to much experience dealing with radiator shops, I usualy just search around and find a replacement... thoughts?

 

Sounds like a TON of money, but then have you seen the price of Copper lately??

 

seems high. i had a 76 1 ton chevy truck 3 core done for 280.. and i had a tractor one done heavy duty 4 core for 350.. here in western ny. you could by a new one from be cool cheaper then 520..just my 2 cents..steve..if your a service member thanx for your service..god bless the usa

 

Sound's like Mac's Radiator. Everything they do starts at $500 dollars and goes up from there.

 

hey guys, this is probably a honeycomb type core and yes, they are very, very expensive. Not like putting a cheap aluminum complete in.

 

I haven't been able to afford a radiator recore for many years.

 

yeah its Macs, good guess. Maybe I should take it to another shop for a different quote? I know its hard not being able to inspect it and all. Maybe I should just find another?

 

Try Able Radiator 503-652-2707. They are at 14511 SE River Rd Milwaukie, Or 97268.

They have been around for years and are a trusted Mom & Pop type place. They have done plenty of Rad work for me over the years on my old rigs. They are fair, and no BS.

 

It's a shoebox Ford, not a prewar Essex.

 

NOPE! Don't do it man. I took that guy my Newport to have the radiator repaired (leaking) and after he pressure tested it and found the problem, he quoted me a price that was fair, and a turn around time of 2 days (3 including the day I dropped it off) which I agreed to. I needed it back asap as I was driving it every day. 3 days went by and no call. I called him and he said that he was still working on it, call back tomorrow. Ok. Call back late in the afternoon and he says it will "be done tomorrow".. I said, ok, but I really need it back tomorrow, it's my daily driver. (This was day 5) He said to not even call, just come pick it up the next day at 3, it would be ready for sure. I had my wife drive me the 15 miles out there to find the hood up and no radiator in the car... "Sorry, not ready yet" he says. "Need more time"

After a few choice words about how I had just driven all the way out there, and that he didn't call to let me know it wasn't going to be ready-even though he said it would, he was apologetic and promised it would be done the next day early in the AM, and that he would "work on it all night if he had to" (this was just a recore and a simple fan shroud install)

The next day is Saturday. I called, no answer. Called all day, no answer, no response to my messages. Knowing better than to drive all the way down there, and knowing how pissed I already was at that point, I decided to let it ride until Monday.

Monday I get a call saying it's done. (No real reasoning given as to why he neglected me all weekend-whatever, just want my car back)

Go down there and it is indeed done. I pay, drive home and all is well. Until The next time I go to get into my car and see what I hadn't noticed when I picked it up- His FUCKING DOG had jumped into my car while he was working on it and got mud literally EVERYWHERE. Muddy footprints all over my newly re-upholstered front seat, and all over my extremely nice time capsule of a rear seat. Ground in muddy dog paw prints all over the fucking place, and little muddy claw marks on the door sills from jumping in and out. I couldn't believe the level of unprofessionalism. Not only did it take like 10 days to do a 2 day job, but he had let his dog go ape shit in my car. It took me hours to get all the mud out of the car. I called him to let him know about it and he just said "Gee, sorry about that.."

Give me a break. I told him that I hope I never have a problem with this radiator because I sure as hell don't ever want to have to deal with him ever again.

That was last summer. Guess what? IT'S LEAKING AGAIN.

I'm not even going to take it back to him, I'll pay a professional with half a brain to do it.

Stay the hell away from this place dude.

 

Oh, also I forgot that he didn't use a seat cover or paper floor mats, and jumped in and out of my car a bunch with his greasy coveralls and muddy/greasy boots. He's a clown. It used to be a good place when Fran was there, I used them often. I think she sold it to this guy. He's junk.

 

The recore will cost almost what a new does. I paid 650.00 but it was a custom job

 

Whats it for? I bought a new radiator a couple of years ago for my Comet for $110. If it takes something super expensive maybe you could fit something else in there that isnt priced so high.

 

Really 1st post and you're going to compare a recore for a '76 Chevy truck to a '50 shoebox. lol... Not even close, the mid 70's cores are still fairly common to get. The older cores are getting harder and harder to come by. Just the stock core to redo my '57 Buick was $400, then add labor. Now I did take it to a place that I trust the work and they're not the cheapest but they're straight up with me.

 

I re-cored my truck rad. It was for a flathead. I think it was around the much. They did an excellent job. 5 yrs running cool and leak proof. Not always best to go to the cheapest guy, although it's a lot of money.

 

....I have a good friend in Madison ,WI thats runs a radiator shop ...He told me that some of these older radiators are hard to recore....with years and years of wear and coolant takes it a toll on copper and brass....when you solder, the copper is sometimes to thin and can't take the pressure...all kind of problems can happen and shop time at $50 per hour can add up.....He told me that sometimes you're better off buying a new one than recoring your old one....really how long do you except a 60 year old radiator to last...he even told me to buy new ones from Walker's

 

So how do they actualy do a pressure test? do they pressurize the radiator with air or water? Just went and picked my radiator back up and it doesnt even look touched/tested. maybe they just need work, I dont know. Im sure there finished product is awesome... but I gotta stay somewhat in budget.

NOPE! Don't do it man. I took that guy my Newport to have the radiator repaired (leaking) and after he pressure tested it and found the problem, he quoted me a price that was fair, and a turn around time of 2 days (3 including the day I dropped it off) which I agreed to. I needed it back asap as I was driving it every day. 3 days went by and no call. I called him and he said that he was still working on it, call back tomorrow. Ok. Call back late in the afternoon and he says it will "be done tomorrow".. I said, ok, but I really need it back tomorrow, it's my daily driver. (This was day 5) He said to not even call, just come pick it up the next day at 3, it would be ready for sure. I had my wife drive me the 15 miles out there to find the hood up and no radiator in the car... "Sorry, not ready yet" he says. "Need more time" "

Sounds like a horror story...


This radiator realy doesnt look to bad, has been recored before got a tag on the front.
I just wanted to do it right the first time before I put the front end together.
Thanks for the input

 

The car in my avitar had a bad radiator when I bought it. AutoRad radiator in Gainsville,GA built a new radiator for me. It was $600 new for the complete. Your price seems high.
Mike

 

They pump it up with pressure and put it in a tank of water and look for leaks.

 

I priced having a re-core and shortening of the radiator for my '34 in Raleigh...it was in the $500 range. I ended up taking it to an old, tried and true shop a couple hours away near my other house and got the work done for either $225 or $275 (memory is failing!). Excellent job, about half the price.

 

got a price from walker today $865.00 for my 36 ford

 

Had to have a almost new Walker radiator shortened. they say they have to re-core and it ended up being more than $400 dollars at an old timer place was recommended by a fellow hot rodder.

 

Able Radiator - 14511 SE River Rd Milwaukie, Or

Boy it sounds like they suck, glad I don't live near them.....

 

I called 2 radiator shops about a new core for my 8N tractor and both said $400.
New radiators range from $139 to $280

 

Yep thats a good deal, most people that do good work, charge a good price, not to mentino the core price. I quoted a aluminuim recore right at $1000 last week.

 

Unless you go that area frequently anyway, a couple round trips of 4 plus hours each adds up pretty quick. It's called 'transaction costs' and all of us, me included, conveniently overlook the true cost of many of our "deals"

Ray

 

Alright, so after doing a little bit of investigating I have found that USradiators is a distributor to Macs. Macs is the radiator shop that quoted me 525.00 for a recore and I thought that was high. I just called the parts ordering and service number for Macs and have discovered they can order and sell me a NEW 49-53 flathead aluminum radiator for 390.00 or a more original copper/brass for 431.00...

either bad customer service or product knowledge from the shop I went to.
http://www.usradiator.com/catalog/product_compare/index/#

 

If it costs more to recore than to buy a replacement...well, the choice is obvious.

I got quoted $450 to recore a '53 Chevy car radiator, the guy said it would take 2 weeks to get it back to me... Later that day I found a new '55-57 aftermarket 3-row radiator for $200 locally and it fit with about 10 minutes of core support modification.

 

That is expensive but you are also cheap seein how you want to spend 35 to 50 bucks on most stuff in life

 

Would a flathead 8RT radiator out of a similar year ford pickup install into a 8ba car pretty straight forward? what are the differences between truck and car? Found a deal on a pickup radiator.