MTFCA Forum

Walker radiator, in business since the thirties has closed their doors for good. Sad to see these businesses that have been big supporters of the automotive hobby disappear. It would be doubtful anyone will pick up where they left off. Another void left for the automotive world!

Sad. They’ve been right next door to a very iconic building that whole time.

Sun Records

I know covid is no help in a business trying to make ends meet but sometimes it can be their own fault, around here it's the failure of not training younger people to take over. I'm an example of that and my brother, still doing radiators by himself at 68. I've offered to show a younger person on how to babbitt/machine etc engines, older club members step up but only to do their own engines. That's no help, wasting my time. We as a hobby, need to have someone still knowing and doing it 30/40 years from now.

The killer on the radiator side is that the technology of the high volume OEMs has changed. Modern cars have aluminum radiators with plastic tanks. As sketchy as that sounds, they actually work quite well and hold up well under normal service. The neighborhood radiator shops that cater to brass and solder radiators are becoming a thing of the past.

Sad but true Cudaman.
Technology is changing and the skills are going with it. We have to remember the boomer generation cars are antique and old technology. Model T’s are ancient in the minds of the the younger folks.
Only one place in my town that repairs old style radiators and they don’t do many.


‘

Local Radiator shop here just closed, hauled their inventory and tools in for scrap and have a sign in front of the building: For Lease or Sale.

Probably be another Pizza place .............. no, they legalized Marijuana here for "Medical" use a couple years ago, there must be a dozen of them in town. Mike's Radiator building will probably be a place for another one. Real estate here is at a premium.

I visited the Sun Records studio this last summer. I could not help but notice the neon sign at Walker Radiator next door. Hopefully the sign will be preserved somewhere. Sorry to hear your business is closing.

John kuehn wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 7:13 pm

Sad but true Cudaman.
Technology is changing and the skills are going with it. We have to remember the boomer generation cars are antique and old technology. Model T’s are ancient in the minds of the the younger folks.
Only one place in my town that repairs old style radiators and they don’t do many.

The only issue is skills (includes knowledge) whether its an antique, hot rod, muscle car, hybrid, diesel or etc. Every decade or so automotive engineering introduces significant changes requiring different skills. What you know is what you are likely to work on. Baby Boomers born 1946-1964 Generation X: Born 1965 – 1976 Millennials or Gen Y: Born 1977 – 1995
Gen Z, iGen, or Centennials: Born 1996 – TBD
Some good reading
https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/car-d ... ut-history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_automobile

WOW what a great sign !! hope someone steps up and preserves it....

I just got a new radiator from them this summer. They custom made a 32 for my 30 fordor banger hotrod. I put a 32 grill shell on it. Now it runs 15 degrees cooler. Bummer.

To my knowledge, Walker has never made radiators for stock T's, so there is nothing to worry about!

After 2035 sales of new gasoline powered cars will be outlawed. So it is just a period of time when the gas stations will be phased out and radiators will no longer be needed, and our cars will either be in private collections which are not driven or in museums. Sad, but times are a changin
Norm

Mom said it best, “ if you have nothing nice to say, keep your mouth shut”!

Hank

Ok then, we drive um like we stole them.

Larry, in the T world maybe not. In the big automotive world, we now have a large void. I have other cars that are not stock Ts, and they all have Walker radiators in them.

This belongs in the "Off Topic" section...

Lots of non T related threads all over the portion of the forum dedicated to "all things Model T"...

Well, to keep this Model T related, when I lived in Memphis, Walker's was the go to place for antique car radiator repair or recore. Had several Model T radiators recored, and they even replated the radiator necks too. Great work, sad to see it close now.

This depot hack radiator was done by Walker's.

Norman Kling wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:04 am

After 2035 sales of new gasoline powered cars will be outlawed. So it is just a period of time when the gas stations will be phased out and radiators will no longer be needed, and our cars will either be in private collections which are not driven or in museums. Sad, but times are a changin
Norm

That's a heartbreaker... I remember wanting (and asking) to learn some of the old timers secrets when I was younger, but then it was "If you don't know it, then you can't compete with me"... I watch as the old timers retire out and close their doors leaving a big old void..

The electric cars DO have pretty extensive cooling systems for their battery stacks, so there will be a market for the trade... look at anyone who had a front end smackdown in their Tesla.

I'd still be willing to learn, but the problem is I'm 35 years older than I was then, and live outside of a small town. I could do the work, but for how long? And then, what? alk someone into doing an apprenticeship up in the middle of nowhere, making the crummy wage this area brings, to learn a dying art? May as well have them learn doing hand rubbed lacquer finishes on wood drawbars for 4 oxen plow teams...

Bottom line is this. You get a youngun (or even a girl, heaven forbid) who shows some interest and talent, don't either be afraid they will "steal your business"... it's their world. And it's their world and interest nd passion that keeps ALL of our hobby alive.