69 Z28 Radiator Re-coring ?

[z28z11]

Gary,

Wish mine was more of a survivor than it is.

The radiator shop in Nashville that did my friend's Z is Tanks and Tabs, 801 Fesslers Lane, Nashville, 800-874-2559. I went on the website for them, you can select the core # for the '69 Z, but it won't give you anything but the number. I'll check them out next week when I'm in town (realize it's too late to help with yours !), but with eventually 4 to do, I'd like to get a handle on a good source.

My '69 Z radiator has never been touched, tag is intact, '68 Z's radiator appears original, a little bumped and bruised, but original tag is there and intact, Z11's tag is being restored, X66's is missing. Have to go the repop route on it -

Regards,
Steve

[KurtS]

Two things
- save the top and bottom plates and have at least the top plate installed on the new core.
- tags can be soldered on sometimes and thus won't come off easy.

[69Z28-RS]

Two things
- save the top and bottom plates and have at least the top plate installed on the new core.
- tags can be soldered on sometimes and thus won't come off easy.

Kurt,
Thanks for the suggestion to save/reuse the top plate..  that's the one that had the square holes in it.   I'll talk to the shop on Monday! 

[BillOhio]

I had mine record and it turned out nice. Guy had a big book and told him what the car was and it was there. I can't think of the brand name but it was a big company

[69Z28-RS]

OK..   after a month or so with my radiator at the shop, the shop gave up on finding a 'stock appearing' core that would satisfy me, so I picked up my radiator (I hate having my parts sit around in a shop longer than necessary!).   

My hope is that I can find a proper core for the '69 Z28 Camaro, that the local radiator shop couldn't find.    I will call the 'Tanks and Tabs' shop (suggested by Steve) in Nashville on Monday morning, but I'm interested in ANY manufacturer that you guys might know of who makes replacement cores for our cars?

I took several photos and measured the core size:   
It's a 3 row;  21" wide, 17" tall (not counting the top/bottom braces), and 2" thick.

Note:  The braces top and bottom, which are apparently unique as this was the issue with my local radiator shop, are soldered in almost a continuous way across the top and bottom of the core, and my shop was not confident they could remove and replace them on a new core.   The new cores available to the local shop had a totally different top/bottom brace.

[69Z28-RS]

...
The radiator shop in Nashville that did my friend's Z is Tanks and Tabs, 801 Fesslers Lane, Nashville, 800-874-2559. I went on the website for them, you can select the core # for the '69 Z, but it won't give you anything but the number. ....

Steve,
Thanks a lot for the tip.   I've been talking to the shop you reference, after searching everywhere I could think of for a new radiator or core that correctly matches the original one (without success until talking with Joe at this shop).   This shop is now a Northern shop so they go by that name.   Joe just told me they will remove the top/bottom rail/braces from my core, clean them, and send them to their core supplier, who will install my original top/bottom rails on the new core and send it back to Northern, who will install the core on my tanks!   I think this is the best *original* solution I've found.    Cost expected to be approximately $360 to about $480, depending on the number of fins/inch (from 12 to 16)?.   The original radiator seems have from 12-14 fins/inch.   Does anyone know the original spec exactly?

But I've got two trips to make to Nashville in addition... to avoid possibility of shipment damage.

[69Z28-RS]

OK, I FINALLY have my radiator back, after a long process of finding the radiator shop in Nashville that would reuse my original core rails, then looking for a more local source to do that same thing.  I finally got information from a core manufacturer, that they would *use* my original rails with some restrictions and requirements, but they would have to go thru a commercial radiator shop.  I then found a more local shop (12 miles away) that would work with me; ie. disassemble the radiator, give me back the parts for cleaning, and then order a '69 Camaro core' (from the supplier I identified) - notating that I would send them my original rails, bead blasted and cleaned.   This all took a few weeks to get the radiator shop an account set up with the core manufacturer, and 2 weeks ago I shipped the rails to Dallas; they installed them on a new core and provided back to the radiator shop on Monday of this week.   Yesterday I picked up my original radiator (UH), re-cored with a new core using my original rails.  See pictures attached to this message.   I asked them not to paint the radiator, as I wanted to do it myself!       NOW, I need some recommendations from you guys that have restored radiators before to suggest the best means to prep and paint the radiator!   All suggestions appreciated.  My goal is to duplicate how the factory did this as closely as possible!    I intend to clean with lacquer thinner, and prime?  is a special primer required for the combo brass/aluminum parts?  and then paint with a glossy black to match the factory.  Should be finned part of the radiator be primed and painted also?
ALL suggestions appreciated!~

[tmodel66]

Gary I'll let someone with experience chime in on the paint and primer but I wanted to relay something I learned when I was young. Don't put the paint too heavy on the cooling fins. It don't take much to restrict the heat exchange and not a whole lot more to stop it completely up. I had a friend that painted one with Chassis Black using a paint gun and it ruined a brand new motor. The paint was so thick no air was getting thru. Ran it hot cracked both heads. I'm not running your business just wanted to tell you what I have seen.

[69Z28-RS]

Thanks TModel.. ..  that's good advice...  and very correct re 'too much paint'.
I am curious whether the fins need any paint at all, of if I should leave them bare..?

[tmodel66]

The guy that has always done my radiator work would put a good coat of paint on everything and the fins basically only got over spray from that. I never saw him directly painting the fins. That engine I mentioned had  about 6 miles on it when they called for me to come get it off the highway.  The ole boy was sick.

[69Z28-RS]

Yeah, a better word for the 'radiator' would be 'convector', since the cooling is predominatly by convection, rather than radiation.  (Actualy there is conduction/convection heat transfer from the hot fluid to the tube/fins, and then convection/radiation from the fins to the air moving thru the fins)..
For radiation cooling, being flat black would be good, but for convection, I'm not sure 'color' makes a difference... so only issue is if the fins (Cu and Al) need any anti corrosive coating?  but I'm concerned about how the Harrison radiator factory did it..  as I want to match their process as closely as possible...

[KurtS]

I was in the Harrison plant many years ago and.... I don't remember.
But process-wise, they would assemble and paint. Doubt they did anything prep-wise - rad shops just paint and the paint holds up.

Nice work on recoring!

[69Z28-RS]

thanks Kurt, and thanks for your encouragement to use the original rails.   It was a long costly process (cost me close to $450) but it wouldn't have 'looked' right otherwise..

[JohnZ]

I don't recall the specific type of black paint Harrison used, but I DO know they didn't use a primer; the more paint film you get on it, the less efficient the heat transfer is, especially from the tiny fins between the tubes. Skip the primer, and go light on the paint.

[HOT3O2]

Does anyone have a picture of the top and bottom frame rails (69 Z) that not on a radiator?