Does anyone know of any place in Tucson that repairs/rebuilds heater cores or radiators? Mine have all been leaking. I suspect the fins are separating.
Heater core rebuild (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter cruiserboy14
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Is it worth repairing? Have you looked at cost of new or aftermarket?
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I haven’t seen the heater cores come up for sale that often. Radiators are plentiful, but I don’t know who sells replacement cores.
No worries. I have been through the same dilemma on past builds, and 9 out of 10 times, I have been better served just to replace a heat exchanger over repairing it.
Living in the Past
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Spector sells front heater cores but they are certainly proud of them by the price. If your needing a rear heater core they have those as well used. By the time you pay their shipping and you over $400 wow. Years ago I loaded to much camping gear in the back of my 68 FJ40. Believe I found a used replacement for $15 on eBay. This used to be a cheap hobby at one time.
FWIW, OE brass heater cores are no longer available new and all you can buy is aluminum. The conductive properties of aluminum are not as good as the brass, but in terms of the actual heat being felt from the aluminum vs the brass I cannot speak to this difference, maybe someone else has first hand experience.
Back to the original point of this thread, I know its not in the Tuscon market, but I just had my OE heater core rebuilt and pressure tested for $85 at Advanced Radiator in Temecula and they did a great job. Worth looking into this option if you are ok shipping it to them IMO. Only took them a week to complete, but varies depending on their backlog. Shipping should only cost you about $20 each way.
Depending on the condition of yours, they may be able to re-solder the tanks/tubes and be done with it. If its not repairable and you need a "new" used core, another great option is to contact @Alex79 to see if he has any sitting around.
Back to the original point of this thread, I know its not in the Tuscon market, but I just had my OE heater core rebuilt and pressure tested for $85 at Advanced Radiator in Temecula and they did a great job. Worth looking into this option if you are ok shipping it to them IMO. Only took them a week to complete, but varies depending on their backlog. Shipping should only cost you about $20 each way.
Depending on the condition of yours, they may be able to re-solder the tanks/tubes and be done with it. If its not repairable and you need a "new" used core, another great option is to contact @Alex79 to see if he has any sitting around.
Im in that market. What did you do with the foam that goes around the core?
Bought new foam for everything in the HVAC (1/2" x 1/8" seals and 1/8" sheets for the flaps) off Amazon.
For the heater core specifically, this is the seal I bought:
Amazon product ASIN B071RDDC2R
It is denser than the OE and does not compress much and will create a VERY tight fit when you slide the core back into the housing...but it works.
For the heater core specifically, this is the seal I bought:
Amazon product ASIN B071RDDC2R
It is denser than the OE and does not compress much and will create a VERY tight fit when you slide the core back into the housing...but it works.
