VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Heater Core

54 Deluxe Heater leaks! Radiator shops want both legs and an arm to recore it. Has anyone found a radiator core off the shelf in a local auto store that with some minor modification could work? Any help would be appreicated.

You can always drive it without the heater core. My 51 leaks so I removed it and just bypassed it with my heater hose. I get enough heat radiating up from the floor to take the chill off any Fall drive. Being East Coasters, most of us will be putting our cars away for winter anyway.

If you're dead set on having a working heater, try Old Car Parts in Portland, OR. Also try Classic Heaters in Farmingdale, NY
516-293-2175, www.classicheaters.com
They specialize in re-coring heaters, and since they specialize, they might be cheaper than your guy.
You can also try a search on Ebay.
Good luck.

What does both legs and arms relate to in actual cash? Comparing that to cash may show you that the shop is not out of line and in fact you are dealing with the reality of the cost of copper, and ever increasing cost of shop labor.

In response to the previous reply "arm and a leg" is an old expression when you find something higher than what you would like to pay. I used plural, 2 arms and 2 legs. I understand copper and labor costs a lot that's why I am looking for a cheaper alternative. My son's vehicle, which by the way runs on vegetable oil, needed a heater coil. He went on the internet and found a forum for his brand of car where someone used an off the shelf auto store heater core which was made out of copper that was a close fit and with a little modification and $30.00 later heat and no water on the floor.
What I was asking is if someone else knew of a replacement which would be the easiest one to modify from their personal experience.

This is a follow up on a heater core substitute for my 1954.
I retrofitted a 1986 Ford Explorer new heater core. I did my homework and scratched my head a few times and came up with the results you can see on Youtube
1954 Chevy Heater Core