aluminum vs. copper radiators

Slicknik

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2019
Posts
233
Reaction score
142
Location
Burbank, CA
Food for thought,

Ive been investigating on whether to replace my radiator with an aluminum one or re-core it.


https://www.griffinrad.com/general_...iator does cool,life compared to copper brass.

This kind of explains what’s going on in the copper to alu. Battle

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/ccrp-0211-aluminum-or-copper-radiator-for-your-car/


in plain English

https://www.dewitts.com/blogs/news/14759109-why-aluminum-radiators-cool-better


more good information

https://www.hotrodhotline.com/md/html/aluminum_vs_copper.php


more good information

https://www.motormouthradio.com/blog/118-what-material-makes-the-better-radiator-aluminum-or-copper


our good friend on YouTube

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media
 

chris142

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2012
Posts
3,007
Reaction score
353
Location
SoCal
Aluminum is generally not repairable. Can't easily take one apart to clean it like you can copper. Some shops still acid dip the copper rads. Can't do that with aluminum.

Consider copper reusable and aluminum a 1 time use.
 

jeepj667

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2015
Posts
115
Reaction score
17
Location
SL,UT
I've read some of those before. I just ordered an aluminum radiator from Champion, but I went with the 2 core American Eagle 1" tube one.
I'm slowly working on getting it installed. I'm converting from the short/wide radiator so I have some fab work to do.

Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk
 

IDIBRONCO

IDIBRONCO
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Posts
12,235
Reaction score
10,925
Location
edmond, ks
My biggest problem with using the aluminum radiators is that the assembly and sometimes the material quality is questionable at best. Unless you go with a big name/high dollar radiator like Mitsumoto, they may or may not last very long. I plan to stick with the brass/copper ones as long as I can. If the affordable aluminum ones had better track records, then I'd switch.
 

YJMike92

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2018
Posts
608
Reaction score
329
Location
NW Arkansas
My biggest problem with using the aluminum radiators is that the assembly and sometimes the material quality is questionable at best. Unless you go with a big name/high dollar radiator like Mitsumoto, they may or may not last very long. I plan to stick with the brass/copper ones as long as I can. If the affordable aluminum ones had better track records, then I'd switch.

I'm not that impressed with Mishimoto either. Unfortunately, it's getting hard to find a radiator shop to repair the brass copper.
 

u2slow

bilge rat
Joined
May 8, 2007
Posts
1,817
Reaction score
814
Location
PNW
If there were any local rad shops, I would use them. Enviro rules have closed many in the last 20 years.

Most economical rad for me is mail order. I usually let price decides brass vs aluminum, but often no choice.
 

jwsfarrier

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2014
Posts
246
Reaction score
84
Location
Molalla,OR
My OEM rad sprung a leak about 6 years ago on the 91 so I decided to pull the trigger on a Mishimoto off of E-Bay. It was a coupe hundred less than the one I bought the previous year for the 89 that came directly from Mishimoto. The E-bay Mishimoto rad leaked from day one. Just seeping , but enough to be annoying. The one bought directly from Mishimoto ,so far, is leak free. The leak progessively got worse. I finally had enough and decided to go on the search for somebody to repair the OEM one(which I saved). As luck would have it there is a company in my area that repairs radiators. They informed me that typically, an aluminum cant be repaired , but copper and brass can. I handed over my radiator and 4 days later got it back and in the truck. Im happy to report its leak free. The company, Mac's radiator repair, has multiple locations in Oregon and one in Idaho. Definitely getting harder to find somebody willing to repair radiators. Their customer service was great, and the price I felt was reasonable(590.00). Hopefully this helps somebody out!
 

square1

Registered User
Joined
Feb 1, 2015
Posts
49
Reaction score
42
Location
Central Michigan
If anyone in / around the great lakes area has any interest there's a shop in central Michigan that re-cores copper. Does an awesome job.
 

Clb

Another old truck
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Posts
5,702
Reaction score
2,163
Location
nannyfornia
*** is in ptr?
Hope they came up with one that will last 12 months, but all tin is still #1 in my mind.

Also beware of the China express 1_800 companies...
If shipping weight is 1/3 that of the stocker ...
 

Old Goat

Full Access Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2021
Posts
1,581
Reaction score
1,570
Location
Northern Nevada
Well for what it`s worth. When I bought the 86 back in July 2014, it had what looked like a new Radiator with plastic tanks and aluminum coils. Didn`t give it much thought if it was good or bad. I have now put 120K miles on the truck and have had no problems with it.

There is no name on it, so it`s a guess where it came from.

I pulled the Core Support out of an 86 6.9 last Friday at PNP along with some other treasures. I almost grabbed the all metal Radiator. Pulled the cap and the little tubes inside looked pretty clean. It did have a leak on the top left with some green running about 6" down the front.
Looking back I should have grabbed it, hind sight is always 20/20.

Goat
 
Top