Radiator Help

[Irwin Z.]

Hello all,

I am the PROUD new owner of a beautiful Panama Yellow/White 1958 Corvette, and new to the NCRS web site.

The car came down from up north last month to Florida. After two short drives, the radiator started leaking. Found out someone put sealant in the radiator to stop a leak along the way. Disappointed on many fronts....yup. Especially not being able to drive this bucket list item.

Here's my question, if I want to keep the car up to NCRS standards, high 90's, and change out the original radiator, would I loose points if I used the Dewitt black radiator in the car when it's judged? This assumes all the stickers and manufacturers tag are reinstalled. Is there a better alternative for a OEM radiator I should consider? Also considering a re-core of the original radiator. Suggestions?

Thank for the insight and help

Solid Axle Newbie.

[Nicholas L.]

Re: Radiator Help

DeWitts would be the way to go.

[Joe L.]

Re: Radiator Help

Hello all,

I am the PROUD new owner of a beautiful Panama Yellow/White 1958 Corvette, and new to the NCRS web site.

The car came down from up north last month to Florida. After two short drives, the radiator started leaking. Found out someone put sealant in the radiator to stop a leak along the way. Disappointed on many fronts....yup. Especially not being able to drive this bucket list item.

Here's my question, if I want to keep the car up to NCRS standards, high 90's, and change out the original radiator, would I loose points if I used the Dewitt black radiator in the car when it's judged? This assumes all the stickers and manufacturers tag are reinstalled. Is there a better alternative for a OEM radiator I should consider? Also considering a re-core of the original radiator. Suggestions?

Thank for the insight and help

Solid Axle Newbie.

Irwin------

If you are talking about the DeWitts Direct-Fit aluminum radiator, I would expect you would suffer some point loss for installing it in place of the original copper-brass unit. You might deceive some judges but certainly not all. On the other hand, I have seen Corvettes with Direct-Fit aluminum radiators achieve Top Flight so the point loss is certainly not an insurmountable obstacle to achieving that recognition.

Your other option is to simply have the existing radiator re-cored. However, I don't know if a core is available that is an exact duplicate of the original core. If not, you might suffer a point loss in that regard.

If you plan to drive this car, especially if you plan to take it on road trips, I'd recommend using the DeWitts Direct Fit aluminum radiator. This radiator will provide considerably more cooling capacity then the original and, in a properly maintained cooling system, will last you as long as you're ever going to need it. Do you need extra cooling capacity? Well, I've never known any Corvette to have too much cooling capacity.

[Irwin Z.]

Re: Radiator Help

Joe,

I thought the DeWitts was not the proper radiator. I had read somewhere the 58 used copper-brass radiators. Maybe this is why a prior owner put in a sealant in instead of dealing with the problem.

Nobody out there makes a copper-brass radiator for these cars? I will not ever be driving this car on long distances. Extra capacity I'm not worried about. Originality is however what I am concerned about and keeping the car a top flight car is.

[Rick A.]

Re: Radiator Help

thread earlier had recommendation of DeMusis Radiator, (203) 469-1194

[Joe L.]

Re: Radiator Help

Joe,

I thought the DeWitts was not the proper radiator. I had read somewhere the 58 used copper-brass radiators. Maybe this is why a prior owner put in a sealant in instead of dealing with the problem.

Nobody out there makes a copper-brass radiator for these cars? I will not ever be driving this car on long distances. Extra capacity I'm not worried about. Originality is however what I am concerned about and keeping the car a top flight car is.

Irwin------


Yes, all 1958 Corvettes originally used a copper-brass radiator. There is no exact reproduction of this radiator available on the market as far as I know. So, if your intent is to maintain exact originality, your best bet is going to be having your radiator re-cored. As I previously mentioned, I don't know of any exact reproduction core but there should be, at least, something very close. So, you might suffer some point loss. Any good radiator shop ought to be able to re-core it for you. Forget about trying to patch your existing core.

As I also previously mentioned, using an aluminum direct fit radiator does not disqualify the car from Top Flight.

And keep this in mind: the radiator you have in the car now might not be an original radiator, at all. It could be an aftermarket replacement from days-of-old. If it's original (or an original replacement), it should have a brass plate on it reading "Harrison Lockport, NY", a date code, and "3141674"

[Irwin Z.]

Re: Radiator Help

Thanks Rick. I just fired off an email.

[Don H.]

Re: Radiator Help

I would suggest using the Dewitt's aluminum radiator (have them paint it black). I have one in my '60 and they look just like the original. Like Joe mentioned, if your car had the original, it would have a Harrison tag which could be attached to the new one. If you loose any points, it would be very minimal. Good luck, Don H.

[Irwin Z.]

Re: Radiator Help

Thanks Don. I'm going to sleep on it and flip a coin and either re-core with a US Radiator core, that looks original, or buy a black DeWitt's in the morning. I'm going to have my mechanic, who has the car now, look tomorrow for the Harrison tag too.

[Thomas H.]

Re: Radiator Help

Thanks Don. I'm going to sleep on it and flip a coin and either re-core with a US Radiator core, that looks original, or buy a black DeWitt's in the morning. I'm going to have my mechanic, who has the car now, look tomorrow for the Harrison tag too.

The tags are available in reproduction - not an "exact" reproduction parts, but close enough. The tag was originally soldered on so use some high temp epoxy and let some of it "flow" out from under the tag. Then paint it black.

I use Dewitts in all of my older Vettes and they work great. The one in my 58 judged just fine.

Tom