Radiator Replacement: What's the Consensus

cjet69

cjet69

501 Club
I don't need a radiator at this point but may need one or two in the near future. I did some searching and it sounds like a lot of fitment problems with any of the replacements. Is this true? and what do you recommend? Is a re-core the best option? Just looking for info for the future if I need to cross this bridge.
 
:thanx: for the input. Hopefully the 3 rads I have will be OK as is but if not, I guess it will be a trip to the local rad shop.
 
You’re fortunate if you have a local radiator shop! I’m unsure where to find one, in my area, used to have several to choose from.
 
Gary Dotson":qgsvd8ii said:
You’re fortunate if you have a local radiator shop! I’m unsure where to find one, in my area, used to have several to choose from.
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I checked the local listings and it appears that we still have 2 Rad shops in the county and a couple more in the next county. Should be able to get a repair or re-core out of one of them if needed.
 
A little late to the party but I did not have fitment issues with my aftermarket radiator, and I bought the cheapest one I could find.

I also have two very repairable original cores if anyone wants to mess around with them.
 
I there is one place in the country I know of to buy a replacement core, they make them, in RI, not cheap but good quality
 
I bought one from JP Tractor Salvage, one of the sponsors at the bottom of the page, and also a nice afternoons drive for me. I bought it last summer, and it was a perfect fit as to height cap clearance etc. The one short coming was that the overflow was just a stub that turned down into the fan opening, and you had to either solder a tube onto it, or use a rubber hose down right in front of the fan. I elected to bend it to the side before it entered the fan shroud and run a rubber hose around the out side of the fan shroud and put it in the original holder at the bottom. I do not remember the brand, but I did find a made in Turkey sticker on it
 
Matt Kirsch":2htdomxp said:
A little late to the party but I did not have fitment issues with my aftermarket radiator, and I bought the cheapest one I could find.

I also have two very repairable original cores if anyone wants to mess around with them.
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How long ago did you buy it?
 
Searching Amazon they have a “Prime” option for $173 manufactured in Turkey for Complete Tractor. On complete tractor’s site they have it listed $166. Both Amazon prime and complete tractor have free shipping. The two written reviews (one on each site) are contrary, take that as you will, it’s either good and made to original specs (like everyone is claiming…) or needs to be gerry rigged. The dimensions on cross checked on both websites seem odd. Core height 13, overall height 16…Free returns with Amazon prime however so if it’s wrong your not out much just time. Complete tractor has a return policy that seems straight forward, but has multiple steps. I called JP tractor salvage, he claimed to sell about 20 a month, a didn’t get calls back about figment issues. I can’t remember the price think it was under $200 but more than the Amazon options. He didn’t say the manufacturer. I am Saving up to buy one while I try to fix my old one, in case i am unable to. A radiator is what every wife wants for Christmas for her husbands tractor eh?
 
Golly i'll have to check, there was a thread that said someone in ireland made them, and i got one. perfect fit. flat gasket surface across the bottom. the overflow was a metal nipple on a tygon tubing, but i drilled it out and bent up some brake line to mimic the original pipe when i restored my cub a few years ago. a couple fins were bent i didn't know if tubes had any damage, i wrote to them saying it would be months before i installed it to check, he suggested bolting a flat board on the bottom to do a pressure test, but said he'd make good if it was damaged. had it on there a few years now, mows lots of hay and haven't had a single issue with it yet! Ireland!!
c
 
halftonstude":2i25630m said:
Golly i'll have to check, there was a thread that said someone in ireland made them, and i got one. perfect fit. flat gasket surface across the bottom. the overflow was a metal nipple on a tygon tubing, but i drilled it out and bent up some brake line to mimic the original pipe when i restored my cub a few years ago. a couple fins were bent i didn't know if tubes had any damage, i wrote to them saying it would be months before i installed it to check, he suggested bolting a flat board on the bottom to do a pressure test, but said he'd make good if it was damaged. had it on there a few years now, mows lots of hay and haven't had a single issue with it yet! Ireland!!
c
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There have been some recent issues with the Clancy replacement radiators...

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=113106
 
Clancy that was it. recent issues? darn it was such a nice radiator and the folks were great. mine had a few fins bent and they agreed to replace it if it leaked. hasn't leaked yet! what kind of issues?
c
 
Joeandmack":2kxaayne said:
Searching Amazon they have a “Prime” option for $173 manufactured in Turkey for Complete Tractor. On complete tractor’s site they have it listed $166. Both Amazon prime and complete tractor have free shipping. The two written reviews (one on each site) are contrary, take that as you will, it’s either good and made to original specs (like everyone is claiming…) or needs to be gerry rigged. The dimensions on cross checked on both websites seem odd. Core height 13, overall height 16…Free returns with Amazon prime however so if it’s wrong your not out much just time. Complete tractor has a return policy that seems straight forward, but has multiple steps. I called JP tractor salvage, he claimed to sell about 20 a month, a didn’t get calls back about figment issues. I can’t remember the price think it was under $200 but more than the Amazon options. He didn’t say the manufacturer. I am Saving up to buy one while I try to fix my old one, in case i am unable to. A radiator is what every wife wants for Christmas for her husbands tractor eh?
Click to expand...

Last month I installed a cheap Amazon radiator in my Cub and I did have a lot of fitment problems.

First was the bolt holes where it fastens to the lower tank. About two of them lined up. The rest had to be oversized and/or slotted.

Second was the side brackets on the radiator. There aren't any on the OEM Cub radiator, instead, there are two removable brackets that bolt down with the radiator. The side brackets on the Amazon radiator interfered with the original brackets so I cut the new radiator to fit with the original brackets.

Third is still confusing to me. I didn't think the radiator was taller than the original unit, but the new one does hit the hood. It may be that the upper tank shape is such that the corners are not rounded enough. In either case, the upper tank hits the hood, keeping it from being bolted down in front.

Last was the "tilt" of the radiator. The flange on the core must not have been positioned perfectly straight, because the radiator has a slight forward tilt to it. I muscled it around after it was bolted down and got it to fit better, but otherwise, the filler neck wasn't going to fit inside the hole in the hood.

Would I buy one again? Heck no. I'd bring my original to a radiator shop and have them recore it. I normally go this route anyway, but the price of the Amazon radiator was too alluring. Lesson learned.
 
I'm sure there are fitment issues with aftermarket radiators but one thing to consider is has the tractor had a front collision or tip over in it's past.
That can really screw up fitment. I would think auto body shops have to deal with this. If measurements are correct than something else needs to be adjusted.
 
from the factory radiator height was different for a round hood to square hood, do not see where aftermarket radiators make any consideration for this
the square had a different top tank to make it taller
 
tst":3j28z3aq said:
from the factory radiator height was different for a round hood to square hood, do not see where aftermarket radiators make any consideration for this
the square had a different top tank to make it taller
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Well that makes sense. I bet the part was designed after the later Cub, but Amazon just sells it without any vetting. Oh wait, that's exactly what they do with everything on the site.
 
Someone with a good ruler and both square nose and round nose cubs should measure their radiators to compare. I measured my round nose cub today and found the following measurements for the radiator size. For the core 14 inches tall 11 3/4 inches wide and 2 1/4 inches deep. For the tank 12 inches wide 3 3/4 inches tall and 3 1/8 inch deep. for the neck 1 inch from top to tank. I question these measurements a little bit though because another time I measured the entire height to be 17 1/2 inches tall. This is for a radiators numbers are 352903R91 L75. The measurements may be off might be useful to have other people compare. It might be wise to buy an online radiator with a easy return policy and quickly measure it with your old one that you know is good before installing.
 
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