Radiator leaking

Which is good because supposed to almost reach 70 degrees this weekend

Your totally right. And I'm just glad that these old jeeps are so easy to work on. I had the radiator drained and out in less than 20 mins

I don't yet have a map gas torch but I figured I'd just let the pros tackle this task. but thanks

Well unfortunately I got a call today from the radiator repair shop and "not so bad" turned to "wtf" the initial repair quote was $90 and after they began working on it now they call me and tell me that it has more problems we didn't know about something like the upper tank portion of the radiator was leaking in a couple spots and the core had some kind of issue that needed attention so the new quote is $270 which is $180 over the first estimate and even if I didn't have them do the new $270 repair they would still charge me $60 to pick up my radiator without being fixed.

I am sorry that you got this upsetting news. The first quote was for the expected repair using only the visual clues that they/you could see from the outside of the radiator. Once they got it apart, the view was much better. If you doubt the damage is that bad, ask to see it before they fix it. I would do this anyway as I like to see this kind of thing.

The problem is that the shop did not make it clear they could not see the inside of your radiator until they got it taken apart. While this is obvious when you think about it, most of us want the bill to be on the lower side, & thus, we do not think about this potential problem. I have learned that my luck does not flow the easy way. So I ask for a "worst case scenario" quote as well as a "best case scenario" quote. That gives me the hope that it will cost less then replacement, but lets me know what the damages will likely be for me.

I also would have it repaired. The aluminium ones just do not look right.

Good luck, Cpt Logger.

PS. Those shop rates are about right for a radiator shop that actually repairs the rads. Hard to find these days.

Well figured id better update my progress on this radiator issue. it had gotten even worse aka more expensive they called again and increased the price quote YET AGAIN. now it was $400 but that included a recore.  probably not a terrible price for a recore to 3 row but it was more than I wanted to spend.

You probably won't need a fan shroud on the aluminum one.  Is it a champion radiator?  Also make sure to change the radiator cap to 7 lbs or or 4 lbs.  My radiator came with a 16 lbs !!!!  It might not matter but I didn't want to take a chance on a blown head gasket or whatever.


Edited by 67charger - 19 Mar. 2015 at 6:59pm

You can how ever fuse Aluminum to Steel with explosives.  Most used to join upper and lower sections on ships. You can also use a running dovetail cut with a wire EDM cutter and then hammer fuse the two pieces together. A number of Custom knifemakers use the EDM cutter method to create a Blade with a Steel cutting edge and a Titanium back that can be anodized in all sorts of pretty colors.

how would I go about finding the correct radiator cap for my new ebay purchased aluminum radiator? it doesn't look like the original cj2a old style looking cap and new cap is smaller than original one. the new cap is only labeled 1.1 which seems to translate to a 16lb cap