Vintage Car Radiators

No car radiator is too old, too damaged or too worn out for it to be brought back to ‘as new’ condition.

Usually radiators that leave our workshop do so in a better condition than when they left the factory new. Performance of modern cores is vastly superior to the cores used in classic car radiators (see our page on upgrading classic car radiators) and there is no reason for vintage cars to struggle up hills or sit in traffic with the temperature gauge in the red.

Upgrading classic car radiators

A detail of a round honeycomb core

Any era of car radiator can be reconditioned in our workshop – veteran car radiators with honeycomb type cores, vintage car radiators with film blocks and classic car radiators are all restored to pristine condition and maximum efficiency. The oldest radiator we ever fabricated was a 1904 DeDion consisting of 9 ft of 1/2″ copper tube with circular copper gills 3/16″ apart, formed into 3 double banks on a hardwood frame.

Upgrades from cellular to modern type cores

We upgraded a 1929 Buick Phaeton radiator which completed in the 2010 Peking to Paris Rally (see blog) by upgrading the original film block to a modern pack-construction core. This can also be a very cost effective upgrade and used the same type of core as the Bentley radiator in the picture on the right which was also upgraded.

Bentley Radiator upgraded with a modern pack-construction core

Classic car radiators re-cored

A pair of Ferrari 308 radiators

More modern classic car radiators from the 50’s and 60’s and 70′ can be re-cored to an identical or upgraded specification and many Aston Martin, Rolls Royce and Jaguar radiators are available exchange off the shelf.
Please call us for price and availability.

Starting handle and power take off holes

Sometimes a radiator has a starting handle hole or a power take-off in the middle. There are two solutions to this problem. The first is for the core to have a blanked-off part where the tubes above or below are ‘dummy tubes’ ie they do not have water running through them.
If the efficiency of the radiator is important the second solution is to use a ‘wet box’ which is a box section around the hole similar to the radiator top and bottom tank – the water flows around the wet box meaning that the core sections above and below the hole are still used for cooling.

A Rover P4 starting handle hole – in this case the section is blanked off.

Car radiator collection service

Classic car radiator collection crate

Car radiator packing crate

We have a UK wide collection service for classic car radiators of any shape or size. This service is for customers who want their original radiator reconditioned but are unable to post it due to not having the time, ability or enough packaging material to pack it up safely and securely. A wooden crate is sent with packaging materials and instructions, put the old radiator in the enclosed plastic bag then pop it in the crate and fasten clips with cable ties ready for collection – simple!

collection service