Reply to "Pantera alloy radiator"

Most of the electrolysis damage comes from local water being acidic. There's a fairly simple test one can run at home with a really good Volt-ohmmeter. You remove the coolant filler cap, set your meter for the lowest voltage setting it has (0-1vDC or less), stick one probe into the coolant while grounding the other. A reading of 70 millivolts or more indicates that electrolysis is dangerously active in your cooling system and will dissolve any contacted aluminum: cylinder heads, water pumps and radiators. My '72 L, using Nevada water plus 50% anti-freeze gives 30 millivolts doing this test and that's considered a 'safe' value. It DOES require a high quality meter: I used a $275 Fluke VOM- repeating the test with a $6 Radio Shack VOM, I got no reading at all.
FWIW, stock Corvettes have had alloy radiators for 30+ years, and Z-28 Camaros for nearly that long, so 'Vette specialty shops have a handle on the problem. Our Pantera has alloy-everything- some of it 20 years old and no troubles yet.
There are several fixes for acidic water: an additive sold as 'No-Rosion' is included with all Fluidynes sold thru their dealers. A sacrificial anode of magnesium can be dropped into the coolant Of course, while it reacts with the acid, it also generates hydrogen, just like a battery.... You can also frequently change all the coolant, adding fresh anti-freeze which contains additives for the problem. Swimming-pool pH paper or water test kits can verify acidity of local water.
Note also that with your high-quality meter, you can also check grounding- Pantera grounding woes are common. Repeat the voltage test above, but once the meter reading stabilizes, turn on the headlights. If the meter reading changes radically, you have a ground problem in that circuit. Repeat with all the other electrical devices to trouble-shoot the whole car's system. Note also that ALL these tests are with the engine OFF.