[DML] Re: Aluminum core/Plastic tank radiators

["Dave Swingle" <swingle@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Since you can't answer I'll ask anyway ;-) - what's your recent 
experience with the operational life of New-Old-Stock DMC radiators? 
What's the warranty? I've installed both NOS and aftermarket ones, 
I'll agree that the NOS ones fit a ton better, (some of the 
aftermarket ones are amazingly out-of-square, to where I've had to re-
drill the mounting holes!) but I'm not 100% convinced that they'll 
last as long as a fresh aftermarket unit just due to the fact that 
they already have 25 years of age on them. I've personally seen a 
couple of the NOS ones that just didn't last very long. OTOH I have a 
car in my shop now that has the original radiator in it, no problem, 
although I've warned the owner that he ought to keep some money set 
aside.
 
In my experience the failure point on the OEM DeLorean radiators is 
the joint between the tank and the brass part, not the plastic 
(unless you happen to snap the bleeder off) and not the radiator 
itself.

While I'm talking - I also don't believe that the aftermarket 
radiators cool any better than the OEM radiators, if both are in good 
condition. Compare them side by side and you'll see that the OEM 
radiator has much denser, finer tubes, which == lots of capacity. The 
downside is that, if not maintained, they will plug up. I think this 
is why people who replace them with an aftermarket radiator think 
they cool so much better - the are comparing it to something that was 
all plugged up inside!

BTW - just another data point - on my "other cars" (BMW) the original 
aluminum/plastic radiator is considered by most to be a 6 year/70,000 
mile maintenance item. The failure mode on those is that the plastic 
neck for the radiator hose breaks off, generally without warning.

Nice thing about DMC radiators, they leak a looong time before they 
really let you down. 

Dave Swingle


--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, James Espey <james@...> wrote:
>
> I'm leaving town for a week or so, and though the best way to start 
the 
> trip off right would be to stir up a bit of discussion just as I am 
> leaving and unable to respond in a timely manner. :-)
> 
> We've got a DeLorean here in the shop with one of the aftermarket 
> radiators (and bad cooling fans) so it had to come out. The tech 
> commented on what a pain it was to get in and out, and then we 
talked 
> about the aftermarket vs oem radiators.








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