Radiator re-coring services?

We used to have a local radiator shop. One of those "old guys" who has been doing it since the 60's.  He would  pressure test, re-core, repair, modify or whatever.  It didn't matter what we took him. Pre-war Bentley,  50's Lancia, 60's Ferrari or an 80's Ford.  Good quality work done swiftly.  Sadly he retired a year ago and couldn't find anyone to take over the business. 

For the last year we have struggled to find any business offering this service.  The two national chains that are in the area are nearly worthless. I found some folks 50 miles away that will happily make us aluminum radiators to fit our needs but no one to rebuild the vintage stuff. 

GRM knows everything so I turn to you. I am willing to ship our work to whomever is capable and interested in doing it and willing to go through the hassle to ship it back. Anyone have a phone number of a trusted local shop? Know of a larger business that does it? 

The local guy tried to sell the business to me and even offered to take one of my employees in for as long as it took to train them but we just couldn't make the numbers work and didn't really want to deal with the environmental mess involved. One of those missed opportunities that will haunt me for a long time I suppose. 

There used to be a shop here in Charleston that re-cored them. I can't find their contact info. Let me ask my business partner tomorrow, he had one rebuilt several years ago and was happy with the result. 

There is one in stony ridge Ohio but that's a heck of a postage bill each way. He's a hole in the wall place with two kids working for him but he's always busy.

I have used Riverdale Radiator in Riverdale GA several times with great success on Chevy and Triumph radiators.  8108 Highway 85, Riverdale, GA 30274  (770) 473-9100.  The S & H may be cost preventative though.  

Some of the companies in this area - possibly others -  that used to do this service are going out of business due to the regs that they have to work under - the cheimicals and waste.  I guess it depends on where you are located. 

This place is local to me, rochester nh. They been here since b4 I moved here 20+ years ago. Don't know how much of their biz recoring is any more.

Never used them, was going to but my radiator grew legs and walked off. 

https://www.rochester-radiator.com/about-us/the-radiator-shop/

chandler said:

There is one in stony ridge Ohio but that's a heck of a postage bill each way. He's a hole in the wall place with two kids working for him but he's always busy.

Who I was going to recommend also. 

This is who he used. They don't have a website. 

American Radiator Service. 

4608 Rivers Avenue

North Charleston, SC 29405

843-744-4741

It's a dumpy little building and they weren't cheap but he was happy with the work. They rebuilt a radiator and heater core for his Plymouth Fury. 

In digging their information up I came across these guys in a Google search. They are a lot closer to you in WA.

American Radiator, Inc.

204 N Oregon Ave

Pasco WA 99301

509-547-6824  -  1-800-826-6649

https://www.americanradiator.com/

Trent said:

The local guy tried to sell the business to me and even offered to take one of my employees in for as long as it took to train them but we just couldn't make the numbers work and didn't really want to deal with the environmental mess involved. One of those missed opportunities that will haunt me for a long time I suppose. 

It's such a shame so many of these small businesses have little desire to think about a succession plan for when the owner wants to retire.  I think they get so used to low operation costs, when sales need to also cover a business loan for buying the business, the numbers don't work. 

In the PA/NJ area, I've used Fingers Radiator a few times for the classic cars my ex- and I have needed radiator work done.  I believe one of our friends in the Volvo 1800 world had them build a larger core radiator for his '72 1800E.  

Thanks for the tips. I have a bunch of calls to make.

Bit if a buggy-whip industry.

The work is dirty and not very environmentally friendly. New radiators are plastic based and not readily repairable.

I can see it surviving as a niche market for the classic car hobby, but the days when there were two or three such shops in a small city are gone. London with a poluplation of 375k might have one still open.

In the same vein the AC shop that will do anything but repair OEM is going away. Me and a few other acquaintances have been looking for a shop to complete our Hot Rod Ac systems and there is no such place.

I really wish I had been able to take the time to learn his trade. I think that if one was to downsize the operation, to eliminate the farm equipment and industrial heat exchangers which was the bulk of his work and focus on high quality restoration work it could be made small enough to bring under the umbrella of our shop. You wouldn't need 10'X10'X4' hot tanks. Just one big enough to hold the largest piece you see yourself repairing. Or do you even need a hot tank in this day and age? Modern heated parts washers are pretty magical.

I have given this list of shops to my parts/sublet person to do some phone interviews. Lot's of shops, even when they have all the skills get nervous when you say Ferrari or Rolls Royce.

In reply to NOHOME :

There’s a guy down here that does custom AC lines but I think he’ll need the car to do it. 

We have a local shop that will make ac lines but I bought the crimp tool to make my own. 

This is my local source for radiator repairs.

http://www.simsradiator.com/services

However, their prices for a re-core can be well above what a new radiator would cost for a vehicle with decent aftermarket support. They had passed on fixing my C10's radiator with words along the lines of "The rust was the only thing holding it together" as a new one would be a lot cheaper.

Stampie (FS) said:

In reply to NOHOME :

There’s a guy down here that does custom AC lines but I think he’ll need the car to do it. 

I think FL would have a few people who can do it. More of a Canadian thing where there is not much demand and lets face it, AC techs who can do jazz are few and far between. they just don't want the aggravation of being responsible for the home brewed concoction when they can charge $1000 to top up an OEM system.

For the cost of the few go-away quotes I have had, I can buy the hose crimper, gauges and a cheap vacuum pump and then go on to become the guy who will do hot rods.

NOHOME said:

In the same vein the AC shop that will do anything but repair OEM is going away. Me and a few other acquaintances have been looking for a shop to complete our Hot Rod Ac systems and there is no such place.

For the A/C systems I'm planning to install, I had figured on buying the tools and making the lines myself.  Even if regulations prevent me from being able buy the R134a (or whatever) to charge the system, the tools are available and not all that expensive to get the system up to that point - assembled and vacuum tested. 

That is true about modern radiators being throw-away items.  When the radiator in my Cummins started leaking, I took it to Fingers and they said it wasn't repairable due to the plastic tanks.  They did beat Rock Auto on the price of a new radiator, so I bought it from them. 

For a brass radiator try Wellbaums.

Stampie (FS) said:

In reply to NOHOME :

There’s a guy down here that does custom AC lines but I think he’ll need the car to do it. 

Any NAPA should be able to make A/C lines, or oil lines.

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

Plastic tank radiators can be repaired, you can usually buy the tanks and gaskets, or cores, separately, and the crimping tools are readily available.  Former employer's brother did that to rebuild the radiator in his Legend, and my current service manager re-cored plastic radiators in a previous life as a technician for Rad-Air (not sure if local, regional, or national chain)

However, it is almost always more expensive than just buying a complete assembly, once you pay for labor.

Anyone vouch for a given crimper kit. This is the masterkool 71550. Just a quick search result. sells for about $200

In reply to NOHOME :

I have the hydraulic version of that without the Mastercool name. It was sub $200 on Amazon. Still haven't finished that project so I haven't actually used it. It seems to be fairly decent. 

Edit: This one. 

Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:

chandler said:

There is one in stony ridge Ohio but that's a heck of a postage bill each way. He's a hole in the wall place with two kids working for him but he's always busy.

Who I was going to recommend also. 

Best I've found in Ohio and luckily five miles from one of my shops.

These are the 2 radiator shops in the Norfolk, VA area that I have used, but it has been a few years.

https://www.culpepperradiator.com/

https://www.angieslist.com/companylist/us/va/norfolk/glenrock-radiator-svc-inc-reviews-2839821.htm

Glenrock Radiator used to advertise "The place to take a leak". They also cleaned and repaired a gas tank or 2 for me (probably in the '80s).