Right on Pete, I've heard that "can't be done" story from a lot of guys. It seems to me that their radiator shop is just one of those flush and paint shops and not a real radiator shop. Any good radiator shop should be able to re-core any radiator as long as the upper and lower tanks are salvageable. Might not be the same core design but for a small heater most any core design should work. By the way, $85 is really a good price for that work, hang onto that shop’s number.
Hate to put you on the spot again buddy, but if you have an online album it would be interesting to see a couple of pictures of that re-cored heater. There has been a lot of discussion on this subject in the past and any new findings would be more than welcome.
Hey there Mellow Yellow, you can also use a ball valve from Harbor Freight but I think a lot of the guys are trying to stay with the correct Ranco thermostatically controlled valves that the trucks had in them originally. There has been a lot of discussion on those also and Woody has posted some nice photos of his rebuild in his album.
And Spot, if the Ranco valve is properly rebuilt and adjusted and if the diaphragm is still intact when you turn off the heat it should shut off the water flow, at least most of it. The internal valve seat is not a very good fit in these valves so you may still feel a little heat but you'll have that from the firewall also so I doubt if you would notice it.
I've driven my stock 1950 for three summers on those Midwest dog days and as long as your moving these trucks are quite comfortable. And I might add that the deluxe heaters do an adequate job in the colder weather also when everything is as it should be.
Lets not loose sight of the fact that this is 60 year old tecnology, you can't expect the heaters to work as well as the one in your 2009 Silverado. Also, back in the day, men were men and they could handle things being a little rougher than the men of today.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
Last edited by Denny Graham; 11/20/2009 1:08 PM.
