MTFCA Forum

I have a 1913 T and wondering who is making good quality replacement radiators for the early cars?

I've heard rumor that there is a new person that folks like?

Rootlieb makes them.
http://www.rootlieb.com/accessories.html

Might be others that make them also.

Rootlieb might not "make" them. They may just sell someone else's radiator. Everyone thought they sold gas tanks, but they actually sold the tanks that were made by the man in Arkansas. It would be worth checking to see if the do actually make them.

Certainly Tom Rootlieb can chime in here...but to my knowledge (what little I have! ) only Brassworks and Bergs make them, and I'm not even sure Bergs makes brass radiators anymore. Seems quite a while back they gave it up.

Not the early radiators, but apparently, Radiator Express makes a version of the "black radiator" style. From what I can see, they look terrible and are expensive. Interesting though!

https://www.radiatorexpress.com/product ... 14/1485417

Yes Bergs made the brass radiators for a while but when he did some had concerned that it wasn’t original enough or had an issue. He makes the later radiators now and they are second to none in my view and yes I have one on my 24 Coupe along with a lot of other folks.
Nowadays it might be better to have an original brass radiator recored if the tanks are still good.
All of the reproduction brass radiators have an issue with some people for different things.
If it would fit and not leak that would be fine for me. If there was some reason it didn’t look completely original most of the average T owners wouldn’t know the difference.

Don’t be surprised that the earlier brass radiators will be approaching 2000.00 in a few years or sooner.

Some of the best money spent on any Model T is for a new radiator.

I have 3 T’s and all of them have a Brassworks radiator. They look great and cool great. No complaints from me. I don’t have any experience with a Berg’s radiator. I have only heard good things about them and have taken a look at them at their booth at Hershey and their quality looks just as good as Brassworks.

When you open the box for the first time for a new brass radiator you will understand the cost. They are a work of art!

I only know of Brassworks making radiators for 09-16 Fords. Brassworks was started by my cousin and myself in the early 70’s. We bought parts in kit form from another supplier and assembled, polished and painted them. They worked, but we’re not correct in detail by along shot. Slowly we made tooling or found short run stamping aero space companies to make better and more correct parts, so everything could be made under our direction. I left after a short time and my cousin sold out some years later. It has changed ownership a couple times before current ownership. We have been a dealer for Brassworks radiators since the beginning. My experience with their product has been such that I have used them for decades, been driven coast to coast and run them with no fan, using truly thermal siphon with 0 problems.

If they were easy to make, everyone would be doing it. They are not. I know. I appreciate the effort Brassworks makes to produce the products they supply and how well they work.

Just got another Brassworks brass radiator. Probably my 20th-25th one? I don't know. Lost count. I started purchasing them from Greg Goviea (spelling?) and have been purchasing them consistently ever since. Flat tube, round tube, black and brass. Never had a single problem with the older ones or the newer ones. Most of mine are on cars that I have driven thousands of miles in all types of situations including cross country tours. It is super quality product that today remains an excellent value for the money. If you think the Model T radiators are expensive, you would faint when you here what it costs to make a brass radiator for a "Brand X" car.

All too often, people post bad reviews here not from experience, but, from someone else's experience who they don't know but feel the need to repeat what they read on the internet even though they have no actual experience with the product or service. Like the Rocky Mountain Brake thing. I have installed a couple of dozens of the new Rocky Mountain Brakes assemblies. Bought my first set of Jack Sunderlin (spelling?) decades ago and have bought new sets from the current manufacturers. I have driven them all over-including the Rocky Mountains. Never had an ounce of problems with the old reproductions or the currently made ones. Mine always worked just fine in forward and reverse. The people I know that complain about them are those who didn't know how to properly install them-or those who talked to someone who talked to someone else that didn't properly know how to install them.

One way to help prevent radiator failure is to make sure the car's front end is in top shape and keep the front spring and other front end parts well lubricated. This will improve riding comfort and help isolate the radiator from road shocks. Beyond that, make sure the radiator mounting is correct and in good order, and replace old, stiff hoses with new ones. If you can avoid washboard and potholed roads, do so. Keeping the engine mounts in good shape will reduce vibration and frame twisting. Don't overinflate tires. Run the lowest pressure consistent with reasonable tire mileage and safe handling. Doing so will help preserve the car and help avoid radiator damage. Keeping the hood lacing and hood latches in good shape may help prevent radiator damage from road shocks and vibration.

I bought a flat tube Brassworks radiator for my 1913 about a year ago.. was extremely pleased with its craftsmanship. It’s a functional work of art.

Darin

I have owned several brassworks radiators over the last 20 or so years. Never had a problem, though I Have seen a few radiators fail because they were not attached properly with the correct mounting hardware, either too tight or no spring or leather pad, and they had no ability to flex with the frame movement.

Brass Works makes a very nice functioning radiator. I have two at this time. I also have had a problem with one and it is probably my fault. DO NOT use a "wings" radiator cap. I found that the extra weight and wind causes too much strain on the neck. I had two instances with one of the radiators and eliminated the wings to a simple dog bone and have not had a problem. This is just my experience but I have heard others have had the same issue.

The Brassworks makes a nice looking radiator for those who don't know originals! First, the side panels are not riveted to the top tank as original. Ford did that because the frame can twist. There are three rivets on each side, and is soldered too. The new owner didn't use some of Greg's tooling, and is now cutting a notch in the top tank to for the upper header to clear when bending which is not correct. I just wish he would pay attention and do the job correctly like Ford did.

This has nothing to do with new radiators, but may be useful in deciding whether to repair or replace. Even an original radiator can crack and leak along the top side seams, as my 1915 did.
That can be fixed with a reinforcing brass patch. The cognoscenti will recognize this as a repair, of course, but most people won't know the difference. On a 100+-year-old driver I prefer the repaired original appearance over the new.

I bought a Brassworks round tube for my 15 runabout last year. No cooing problems at all even during break in. Heck it even survived falling off of the turtle deck. I hadn’t even put it on the car yet. Of cars on the way down it fell out of the box and landed face first on a floor jack. My heart dropped, I said some bad words but it came out without a scratch somehow. I would like to say lesson learned. But it survived the shock test.