VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Radiator 1950 Styleline Delux with Powerglide

The radiator on my 1950 Chevy Styleline Delux with Powerglide has sprung some leaks.
I live in Lafayette, CA, any ideas where I can get it repaired in my area?
Any ideas who carries replacement radiators with transmission coolers?
Where can I get the specifics on the radiator that came stock with my car?
Thanks for any help you can give.
Mel

If you can find a 1953 or 154 radiator it is a diret fit and has mre cooling ability. The cooler is in the lower radator hose and not connected with the radiator.

Note that those specs are for a car with standard transmssion. Power Glide had a pressure cap and a larger core.The 1953-1954 radiator is still the best bet.

Could a person use the 50 tanks and have one re-cored with a 54 size and use a pressure cap? Basically make a 54 radiator with 50 tanks. Is anyone making new cores for them? I'm going to have mine done soon and will find a 54 if not.

Gene,

Thanks for the details about the 1950 Powerglide radiator.

Mel,

If your tanks are good the radiator shop can install a new core with more fins and tubes. Cores are made to fit the tanks.

Most radiator shops do not make cores. They order them to size based on the tanks. That is typically what takes the most time when a radiator is re-cored. There are only a limited number of places making cores to size based on order.

Be ready for a $600 to $1000 cost and quite a few weeks of waiting.

For what it is worth...... I purchased an aluminum radiator for my 50 coupe with a 261 engine from Walker Radiator at the Charlotte Auto Fest a couple years ago for $200 delivered to my door. (they may be made by Dillion?)

My car is a 3 speed but I ordered it with the tranny cooler in the bottom just in case I later go to automatic. (bad knee)
The radiator fit right in and I've let it sit and idle in the shop, in hot weather, for extended periods , just as a test and it had done very very well.

......its probably more expensive now days and you may be going 100% original.

.....last one I had recored here in the south was $550 and that was 4 years ago.

National Chevy has the lowest price on a new copper/brass radiator, $399 plus $48 in shipping. You'll need to add their speed nut retainer, which is $20 or so, and makes install easier. The new radiators do not have nuts welded on the mounting brackets.

It is made in the USA by US Radiator, and is the same one that the other venders sell. I recently added one to my '54 and it works very well.

It does have a transmission cooler built in to the lower tank, if you do not want to use the cooler in your lower radiator hose. You'll have to figure out how to go the extra length with your lines to the radiator, such as adding the nipple ends to the metal lines and also to the radiator, then using rubber hose. OR, you could possibly use a set of '55 Chevy lines (6 cylinder with powerglide) and make those work.

Downside is the tank isn't stamped with Harrison and the part numbers. On my car, I had already spent too much money having the Harrison radiator re-cored, and then it leaks like a sieve three years later. No thanks, just buying a new one now.

Thanks for the information. Are you satisfied with the radiator from National Chevy, made by US Radiator?
Question. Can one run both the cooler in the radiator and the cooler in the lower radiator hose?
Mel

Yes, I am very satisfied with it. It cools fine, and it does not leak! So that was a big upgrade from my old one! When I ordered it, the guy with NCA told me that the speed nut retainer wasn't needed. WRONG. I made it work with nuts and lockwashers, but it took some finesse. The clip u-nuts from Home Depot or ACE may work as well, but I couldn't keep them clipped in the right place as the radiator slid down the support.

If you want it to look completely original, the new radiator isn't 100% correct because the upper tank design is slightly different and it doesn't have Harrison and the part number.

I'm using a separate transmission cooler mounted in front of the radiator. I'm sure the lower radiator hose coolers are ok, but I didn't have one at the time.

I suppose you could install both coolers if you fabricate the metal lines, but I'm not sure that would benefit you much. If you use the one in the lower radiator tank, you'll have to fabricate longer lines or possibly use those from a '55 w/ 235 & powerglide (and I haven't confirmed this would work, just thinking out loud). If the cooler in your lower hose doesn't leak, then it's probably ok. I personally like having a separate transmission cooler so that there are no worries about coolant and transmission fluid mixing if one of the internal connections fails (either in the lower hose cooler or radiator tank cooler). However, GM and other manufacturers have used the trans coolers built in to the lower radiator tanks for many years, and they are clearly ok!