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4 core brass radiator

aj's tonka truck

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I would like to install a 4 core radiator in my 91 blazer and I would like a heavy duty brass one but can't seem to find one at a good price. The ones I have found are too expensive!!!!! I don't want to have to rob the bank to get one. The alum./plastic tank ones just don't appeal to me. ANY one know where to get them at a steal.
 
Plan on spending aboput 450.00 for a 4 row copper/brass. Everything these days are going to aluminum/plastic and they just plain suck. The plastic tanks are the problem, aluminum cools so much better than copper/brass BUT the plastic tanks can't take the heat and end up splitting the tanks after a year or so. Don't forget that you'll also need to buy the correct rubber insulator pads and a new top plate if you do go with a 4 row radiator.
 
I would like to install a 4 core radiator in my 91 blazer and I would like a heavy duty brass one but can't seem to find one at a good price. The ones I have found are too expensive!!!!! I don't want to have to rob the bank to get one. The alum./plastic tank ones just don't appeal to me. ANY one know where to get them at a steal.


why not go all AL?
 
Where is the best place to get the rubber supports and brackets. Are the brackets a long one piece or are they the 2 brackets similar to the original ones I removed, just longer for the thicker radiator?
 
The all al is ok when new and they cool great but this is a hunting blazer that I will be using on a very large ranch and if you have somthing put a hole in it or it springs a leak the brass is easier to fix. I chase hogs across corn fields and soy bean fields trying to get shots at them because they are taking the entire 40,000 acre ranch over. I think the brass would be a better suit for this.
 
I chase hogs across corn fields and soy bean fields trying to get shots at them because they are taking the entire 40,000 acre ranch over.

Now that sounds like fun. I've killed two coyotes out the driver's side window shooting my .22 left handed and walking the bullets up to him as he ran down the road in front of the car.

But, get me a harness to hook to the light bar so I don't have to hold on, and about a 30 cal carbine or my .351SL, something big enough to put down a hog, not much recoil, and a thick enough cross section bullet so a corn stalk won't cause it to shatter, and I would be in heaven.......:waytogo:

As for punching holes, you're right. Brass is going to be more user friendly. I ran a 2 inch pine limb all the way through my brass radiator on my old jeep way back in Tate's Hell swamp back when I was just a teenager.
Pulled it out, crimped the open rows shut with a pair of needle nose pliers, refilled it from a creek and drove it the rest of the hunting season with a little black pepper.

But, what you really need, is a brush screen. I made one out of a steel fireplace screen for my old 8N tractor.
I put some brass window screen on it, and ran it back along the sides of the tractor for when I am bush hogging the corn down.
Stops the stalks and also the fine brush from clogging up the radiator.
Its got some pretty stout hardware cloth under the brass window screen.

It has two legs that fit in two tubes bolted to the front guard.
I can lift it off or put it in place in just a few minutes.

Do that, and the plastic and aluminum will work. Just expect for the tanks to crack eventually.
But, you never know. The plastic and aluminum rad on my old Ford lasted about a year and a half brand new from the factory.

I replaced it with an identical looking Moline one, and it has been on there for 20 years with no leaks.
 
Thanks for the great idea. Yes, the hog killing gets real bumpy at times. The ranch hired a helicopter this year after the hunting season was over and I got to work with the boys. Now that is fun. We shot 187 hogs the very first day. We flew 3 times over a 45 day period and took out quite a few hogs. They do catch on fast though. The third time we flew, the hogs would start running as soon as they heard the blades of the chopper, but that is usually too late. Anyway, thanks for the great idea. I would still like to get a brass one if I can find the right deal.
 
I'll scrounge around tomorrow and see if I can find that screen for a picture. Its fairly crude, I threw it together one afternoon from parts I had laying around. Its probably too narrow for a blazer, but you might get some ideas from it.

I don't use it anymore since I retired the 8N from bush hog work when the bush hog gearbox wore out. Even with the overrunning clutch adapter, it was never designed for that and its a big strain.

What Cal. are you shooting?

Everybody has fallen in love with the 5.56/.223 nowadays, and I own one, but I still prefer the older calibers.
.22, of course. .22mag, 22 hornet, .270, .30 06, and of course my favorite swamp, close range deer rifle, .351Win, Sl.
 
We use 12 ga. with oo buckshot when flying due to being right above them. I shoot a 300 rem. ultra on the big boys when I am on the ground. I am going to build a AR once I finish this project. They are comming out with some great AR calibers for hard hitting heavy grain bullete which you need for the big bores. Oh yes, I would love to see the pics., thanks.
 
.300 Ultra. Whoa, big hogs..........

But, I guess its just a different way of looking at it. This is not hunting, or meat hunting, its extermination. You want him dead, no finesse about it.
I have no problem with that.

I have done that on other things. Rats, cattle egrets, the aforementioned coyotes....

Interesting this came up today. Friend of mine down the road called me Wed. because his satellite dish setup had died.
While I was there, since he knew I did a lot of shooting, he asked about a big boar he had been trying to kill.

He had been tearing up his deer feeders, and eating all the feed.
Got so bold, he would walk up and stand a few feet away while he filled the feeders, but would run if he pulled a rifle.

Finally got smart. He let his cousin drive the truck, and he shot the boar out the window with a .22.
Said he hit him right between the eyes. Boar dropped, flopped a couple of times and jumped up and ran.

I told him that the big ones had a pretty tough skull to begin with, and it sloped back between the eyes.
If the pig was looking straight at him the .22 might flatten and just slide along the skull and out the top of his scalp.
Nose down, it would work, but nose up, straight on, its best to shoot for the nose
hole.
Might not kill him, depending oh the bullet track, but would put him down long enough to put one in his ear.

This afternoon, he came to borrow my jump-off box to get his lawnmower running, and said that he had gotten the boar yesterday.

500lbs, and he had a clean cut right between his eyes where the .22 skimmed the skull.

Said he used No. 4 buck, 5 rounds. Wasn't taking any chances.......
 
I shoot a 300 ultra due to our fence lines being very long and the hogs get wise and cross a long way from the box blinds. I have the ability to make very long shots and have the equipment to be able to make them consistantly. I wont say how far some of my shots are at, due to some people would think bad of me or don't believe it. But we do what we must to try to control the hog #'s and we are not winning. Well, enough about that, I am looking forward to seeing your pics. of the brush shield. I will keep checking back on this thread for them. I do hope I can find a better price than 400 + dollars on a brass 4 pass radiator. Maybe someone that reads this will have an idea where I can get one for a much better price.
 
Most guys I know who shoot hogs down in TX like the Marlin 45-70 guide gun.

One I know uses a stainless steel version of the guide gun. He loads 350 gr bullets up to 2200 fps. That load is stout.

I would use my 45-70, but we don't have much in the way of hog here in UT.

And something I remember from when I was living in TX.

Every land owner I came across complained about the hogs, but when I told them I would happily come and give a hand shooting those pests, they wanted me to PAY to help them with their problem.

I of course, did not.
 
I shoot a 300 ultra due to our fence lines being very long and the hogs get wise and cross a long way from the box blinds
Yep, after I posted that, I realized that we were talking about Texas. Not only is everything bigger there, but is usually a lot farther away.

Down here, a 100 yard shot on a deer is usually a long shot. That is why I like my .351.
Its got a, technically illegal for deer hunting, 10 round mag, and will put one on his butt up to 150yds.

I can grab it, and head into the swamp.
The 10 rounds means I don't have to carry extra ammo, and it will handle anything we have down here as far as I am going to see it in that close area.

I have a Browning .270 for the more open areas.
But down here in most places, more open is 200 to 300yrds max.

I can make the long shots.
With that rifle and scope, I can put 5 in an area smaller than the palm of my hand at 600.
And have done some 1000yrd shooting.
But I never get opportunities on game at that range.

I got a chance to do some hunting a few miles north of here many years back, and promptly ordered myself a Shepard range finding scope.
Up there, they still had mostly close shots. In fact, most of the guys I hunted with, used shotguns.
But there were some places that were interesting.

One morning, I was sitting on the top of a hill looking over a small stream about 200 feet down, at the hill on the other side.
As the fog cleared, I saw a nice 8 point feeding on some acorns.

I put the Shepard on him, and it said between 4 and 500yds. No way I was going to pass that one up.

Called the other guys, and they got in position. Took my time, waited until he picked his head up to listen, and put 130 grain corelockt just behind his head, dead center of his neck.
The rest of the guys were disappointed, they expected me to miss and they would get a shot.


That is still the longest shot I have made on game, except for a Di-dapper I killed when I was young at about 3/4 mile with a .22.

But I don't really count him, since there was only a minimum amount of skill involved.

I had my rifle set up like an artillery piece, and would fire a round and watch through binoculars where the bullet hit.
Then adjust my elevation and angle and fire another round.

Usually when I started getting close he would fly away.
But one dummy just sat there until I dropped a round right down through the center of his back.

For anyone who thinks this sounds very dangerous, you would have to see the area. At that point, the bay is about 10 miles across, and any boat, swimmer, or anything larger than a duck would be plainly visible.

Anyway you wanted to see the brush shield.

Well, I got some pics, but you are going to be disappointed.
First, it has not been used for about 5 years, and has been laying in my junk pile collecting leaves and rust.
Second, it was designed and built to fit one vehicle, an 8N Ford tractor, so its not going to be very adaptable to your situation.

Third, I literally threw it together in about 2 hours using what I had laying around. It worked, so I never cleaned it up or improved on it.

It started out life as a heavy one piece fireplace screen. I put two perforated pieces of angle iron inside so that the bottom ends would slide down inside a couple of pieces of steel pipe I mounted on the front of the tractor.

Then, I put a large piece of screen wire over it and extended it way out to cover the gap between the sides of the screen and the front of the tractor hood.
A piece of hardware cloth went over that to stop limbs and stalks from puncturing the screen.
The screen was held to the tractor sides and hood by a combination of Velcro and magnets.
The whole thing was about a foot and a half from the front of the tractor when mounted.

The fine screen was to keep small pieces of cornstalk and shucks from clogging up the radiator.
Just the brush screen on front was enough to stop anything from puncturing the rad, but the fine stuff would get sucked around the sides, so I had it around there too.

Adding a fine screen over a radiator will stop it from getting clogged, but there are two things to remember.

First, the screen will get covered and must be brushed off from time to time. Stopping the engine will cause a lot to just fall off.

Second, just the addition of the screen will impede airflow.
When I got the 8N, it had a piece of screen over the radiator inside the grill. And it often ran hot.

The key, is surface area.
By having the screen way out in front, and having it much bigger in area than the intake of the radiator, you reduce the restriction to the point that it is not a factor anymore.

Plus, the larger the area, the slower the airspeed in any one spot, and the less pressure to hold up trash. It tends to just bounce off and not stick.

Here are the pics. Like I say, it has been in an outdoor junk pile, so its not in good shape.

IMG_2545.jpg

IMG_2546.jpg

IMG_2547.jpg

IMG_2548.jpg

IMG_2549.jpg
 
...aluminum/plastic and they just plain suck.... the plastic tanks can't take the heat and end up splitting the tanks after a year or so...

Just had to smile... so I've been lucky with my rad (or on borrowed time...?) since '04?
 
Just had to smile... so I've been lucky with my rad (or on borrowed time...?) since '04?

Guess so, i've seen so many aluminum/plastic radiator failures that there's no way in living hell I would EVER run one. Like I said, it's the plastic tanks that fail and they can't be replaced.
 
you should see the death rate of them out here in a rust / corrosion belt of new york from all the salt / de ice liquids in the winter. :doah:

thats why a month or so ago i got the new 3 core copper/brass from a maber parting out his rig close to me.

and few years ago my plow truck needed 1 and i dug n dug and found a new last one on shelf at store 3 core copper/brass.

if i ever need a new rad now and cant find copper/brass then full aluminum is the only way i will go.
 
Just had to smile... so I've been lucky with my rad (or on borrowed time...?) since '04?

Like anything, it's all about who makes the radiator and how it's made. We own a radiator business and we've seen plastic and aluminum radiators last anywhere from 6 months to 10 years depending on the manufacturer. We tag all or work, so when we get a rad back in the shop we know when it was sold and what the brand was. I would say that any copper/brass radiator has a durability and a maintenance advantage over the plastic and aluminum. You can fix the aluminum radiators on the core part, but not the tanks.
 
you should see the death rate of them out here in a rust / corrosion belt of new york from all the salt / de ice liquids in the winter.

I can see the issue about heat (sort of, my truck is in AZ...), but corrosion? So in NY the aluminum part is where those rads fail?
 
ya the crimped tabs around the tank. corrosion gets under the o-ring gasket to tank/rad body and swells up bad . and also the tabs get thinner over time from being eat up by the corrosion.

when i see them leaking first place i check is the tank seams. thay are usaly real nasty looking.

only 2-3 times in over 10 years have i seen a broken blown out plastic tank tho. thay have some good stiffining ribs inside them to hold the pressure.
 

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