car radiator

**mike1** · 07-08-2016, 10:59 AM

i was wandering how much one weighed? i know there are ali ones but what about the copper tube ones and how often do those appear? are the ali ones more common? also how difficult is it to take one out of a car? do you have to take out the coolant before you take it out of the car can you get away with just lifting it out first and then dumping the cooland into a bucket? what kinda tools am i gona need?

**JohnC4X4** · 07-08-2016, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by mike1

do you have to take out the coolant before you take it out of the car can you get away with just lifting it out first and then dumping the cooland into a bucket?

YES >> You have to drain it first
Unless it is an older model car >> Pre 70's >> It will be aluminium with plastic tubs on 2 sides>> sometimes top and bottom instead of sides
If auto trans there will be a heat exchanger in one of the tubs >> Sometimes aluminium, sometimes copper, sometimes stainless and sometimes just plain old steel

**eesakiwi** · 07-09-2016, 06:42 AM

Most of the time the Copper cap has Steel brackets soldered to it, same with the base.

I have to take these off, they peel off with a lot of leverage in the right places.

**mike1** · 07-14-2016, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by JohnC4X4

YES >> You have to drain it first
Unless it is an older model car >> Pre 70's >> It will be aluminium with plastic tubs on 2 sides>> sometimes top and bottom instead of sides
If auto trans there will be a heat exchanger in one of the tubs >> Sometimes aluminium, sometimes copper, sometimes stainless and sometimes just plain old steel

so there is no copper tubes in the radiator? i saw one with copper tubes in it like that of a ac does that mean it was older? how much fluid is in a radiator am i gona need a big bucket?

**hobo finds** · 07-14-2016, 05:04 PM

**mike1** · 07-14-2016, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by hobo finds

haha nice=)

**JohnC4X4** · 07-14-2016, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by mike1

how much fluid is in a radiator?

Year and make of vehicle and easy enough to look up the coolant system capacity

**eesakiwi** · 07-15-2016, 02:14 AM

I forgot, I had a old radiator and was going to scrap it.

Then some random person saw it and said "That's a radiator off a MK2 Cortina year xxx. Don't scrap it, people want those so they can recore it for a restored Cortina project. There's no dints in it so its a good one".

Ah... "Thanks..."

So I cut out the core leaving enough around the edges, and the little metal tag with the numbers on it, sold the lump of core for scrap.
And put it in a friends yard sale.
Sold it in less than 2 hours for $40.

**mike1** · 07-26-2016, 12:27 PM

wow thats cool. so if a car radiator looks like it has copper tubes its not copper but brass right? and copper fins? if the fins are copper would it be sheet copper? i saw a ford truck he said it was made in the 80s does that mean its got brass tubes or are they copper? from what i could tell the radiator looked like the ac kind. do they weigh more than the ali ones are they more than 25lbs? also how much will i get for the fans on the radiator on a car there is 2 small fans attached to the radiator can i take those off without draining the radiator? the radiator is staying in the car my grandma is going to just give me 10 dollars for it its a 01 lumina so i think its not copper tubes right? my dad poked a hole in our car radiator he ran into a tree limb in the road dont have to worry about draining that fluid cause its gone=) at least he only damaged the radiator but hey its free for me=)

**ScrappinRed** · 07-26-2016, 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by mike1

wow thats cool. so if a car radiator looks like it has copper tubes its not copper but brass right? and copper fins? if the fins are copper would it be sheet copper? i saw a ford truck he said it was made in the 80s does that mean its got brass tubes or are they copper? from what i could tell the radiator looked like the ac kind. do they weigh more than the ali ones are they more than 25lbs? also how much will i get for the fans on the radiator on a car there is 2 small fans attached to the radiator can i take those off without draining the radiator? the radiator is staying in the car my grandma is going to just give me 10 dollars for it its a 01 lumina so i think its not copper tubes right? my dad poked a hole in our car radiator he ran into a tree limb in the road dont have to worry about draining that fluid cause its gone=) at least he only damaged the radiator but hey its free for me=)

Not to be rude, but at some point you're just going to have to go find out. We know a lot, but not everything, and the more you jump in there and do the more YOU will know and the faster you will start making money...

**eesakiwi** · 07-27-2016, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by mike1

wow thats cool. so if a car radiator looks like it has copper tubes its not copper but brass right? and copper fins? if the fins are copper would it be sheet copper? i saw a ford truck he said it was made in the 80s does that mean its got brass tubes or are they copper? from what i could tell the radiator looked like the ac kind. do they weigh more than the ali ones are they more than 25lbs? also how much will i get for the fans on the radiator on a car there is 2 small fans attached to the radiator can i take those off without draining the radiator? the radiator is staying in the car my grandma is going to just give me 10 dollars for it its a 01 lumina so i think its not copper tubes right? my dad poked a hole in our car radiator he ran into a tree limb in the road dont have to worry about draining that fluid cause its gone=) at least he only damaged the radiator but hey its free for me=)

Paragraphs....... please!

A car/truck/etc radiator is normally Aluminium with plastic ends.
or Copper/Brass, if so, its probably got Brass end caps top & bottom and the tubes are Brass but the thin fins between are Copper.
There will be Steel mounting plates soldered to the Brass end caps, normally its Lead solder, so you can often just peel them off.

There's a separate catagory price for Brass/Copper radiators, here in NZ it will get you NZ$3.41 a Kg.
I think that's US$2.38 a Kg, or maybe US$1.10 a Lb.
To get that you have to remove anything Steel from it, check it with a magnet to find any Steel.
You will have to remove the fan unit(s) & their brackets.

You can sell the fans once you have stripped off the brackets from them, as 'Electric motors' grade metal.
Since its not much, you would save up at least 20-50lbs of this grade before you sell it.

With the Aluminium radiators you will have to break off the plastic ends and remove anything that's not Aluminium, rubber grommits etc.

The only exception to this info I have found is that automatic transmission engines often have a small radiator set up beside, or inside the radiator.
They can also possibly be inside the end cap, in this case you can see the inlet & outlet fittings, normally it is either Brass or Aluminium. It will be about a foot long tube inside the end cap.

Also, with cars etc, the heater core is often Copper/Brass just like the radiator. And the air-conditioning core is a big box shaped Aluminium radiator. (In the jap cars anyway) its inside a plastic box under the dashboard & takes a bit of work to get it out.

Para
graph
s.....

;-)