Reply to "Radiator Source for '71 Pantera"

I have the Hall Phoenix radiator and have had it for about 14-15 years. After about 4-5 years the bottom plate rusted away and the straps that hold it together had both broken. I took it out, brought it to my local radiator shop and he said the core still looked brand new. I had him desolder the bottom plate and top plate and took them to a metal fabrication shop. They duplicated the pieces in 1/8 brass and the radiator shop soldered them back on and replaced the straps with stainless steel.
Move forward about another 5 years and the car had sat awaiting its full restoration. This time I decided I wanted to lay the radiator forward so I brought it back to the radiator shop and he said the core still looked great, and the top and bottom brass plates were still in great shape so I couldn't justify a new radiator. I had the radiator shop reverse the top mounting brackets and extend the tubes so that I could put a dual sucker fan and shroud set behind it.
I mentioned the rust problem to Gary Hall one day and told him what I did to cure it and he said he might start making them with brass tops and bottoms, I don't know if he did or not.
All in all, I have probably spent about $800 dollars on the radiator including the original price and the repair and the modification. Not bad when you consider I bought it either in 1986 or 1987.

[This message has been edited by fordgt (edited 01-07-2004).]