Aluminum Radiators

[Alan76]

Need a Radiator Can anyone give feed back on the aluminum ones

and is there any difference between the high priced one from the corvette venders or the low priced auto parts store radiators

 

[JohnZ]

Need a Radiator Can anyone give feed back on the aluminum ones

and is there any difference between the high priced one from the corvette venders or the low priced auto parts store radiators

Yes, there is - price is the LAST thing I'd consider when buying a radiator, especially if you have A/C. You should buy cooling capacity and direct fit, made for your specific application. Parts-store bargain replacements are a lousy substitute for your original Corvette radiator.

 

[6880 Mike]

Have you considered having your original radiator cleaned/recored? Cheaper than aluminum and no fit problems.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

I had my original aluminum radiator recored when i first bought the car. It was less than $200.00.

 

[JohnZ]

I had my original aluminum radiator recored when i first bought the car. It was less than $200.00.

Original Corvette stacked-plate aluminum radiators can't be re-cored; they don't have a replaceable/repairable "core" like a copper/brass radiator does. If your 1970 has an automatic transmission or air conditioning, it came originally with a copper/brass radiator; only manual-transmission cars without air conditioning had an aluminum radiator.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

No Corvette built after 1972 came with a aluminum radiator- they were all copper/brass and did an excellent job of cooling the engines.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

Original Corvette stacked-plate aluminum radiators can't be re-cored; they don't have a replaceable/repairable "core" like a copper/brass radiator does. If your 1970 has an automatic transmission or air conditioning, it came originally with a copper/brass radiator; only manual-transmission cars without air conditioning had an aluminum radiator.

I'll post a pic of what i have tommorrow.I've often wondered how you can mate aluminum side tanks with a brass core but its been working fine for about 10 years now.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

Well I learn something new about my car everyday. Evidently the original aluminum radiator was replaced with a brass replacement radiator. It has the correct locating pins on the bottom and top. When i bought the car in 2000 the radiator was literally falling apart. When you touched it,cooling fins would fall on the floor. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Peer81]

It could be me, but the radiator in the picture looks way narrower then the one I have in my 81. Were 71 radiators narrower?

Greetings Peter

 

[Crimson Thunder]

Yep,small-block aluminum radiators are quite a bit narrower than the brass ones that came in the A/C- auto trans cars.

 

[JohnZ]

Yep,small-block aluminum radiators are quite a bit narrower than the brass ones that came in the A/C- auto trans cars.

However, the OEM aluminum radiator was "all core", from side to side; it didn't have side tanks, so it had the same effective core area exposed to airflow. The copper/brass radiators have 2-1/2" wide tanks on each side of the core that provide no cooling capacity. Photos below show the OEM small-block stacked-plate aluminum radiator (bottom photo) and the copper/brass "look-alike" replacement with side tanks (upper photo).