MTFCA Forum

My TT radiator had more JB weld on it than Brass and was leaking like a sieve. It was totally shot. A brassworks rad would be nice but honestly I don't have the money right now. I needed to buy four tires and replace every bushing, kingpin etc to get this thing moving so a period correct rad will have to wait. This is what I came up with for a temporary radiator for my TT. Nothing original needs to be modified so when I can afford to get a brassworks, I will. In the mean time I'm driving this thing as I continue working on it. Total cost was $250 in materials. I realize that not everyone can tig weld themselves so there would certainly be more cost if you had to pay a welder. I started with a $190 Chinese aluminum radiator for a Jeep CJ3. The filler neck was cut off and the hole filled in. A new tube of aluminum was welded in the center for the original fill neck top to mount on. The stock brackets were cut off the side of the rad and new bottom mounting tabs were welded on. A cross piece was welded on the top to attach the upper radiator rod to. A new rod had to be made as the stock one is now too short. Tabs were also welded on to hold an overflow tank. I chose to make a new steel water outlet because the new setup is 1-1/2". I'm using a water pump for now so there is plenty of circulation. I've been on several drives now and had it up to temperature and everything seems to be working quite well and staying cool. If I were to do it again I would use a slightly larger overflow tank. I used a 2" ($26) and probably should have gone with the 3" version for slightly more capacity. I got a 1-1/2" molded radiator hose from Napa ($24) to cut up and use. Some paint and we have a temporary working solution.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QZPSVXD
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X9XNZGL

Neat solution.

Very nice job!
Do you have a tall or short radiator?

Bryant

Start a business. Now.

It’s a 24 high hood.

Hi Jason,
I doff my hat to you. I tried this with a Speedway T bucket radiator but gave up because of the labor involved in making it fit in a low shell.
It would have been a pretty EZ operation for a tall The Speedway radiator has a large tank, it's a two core but the cores are 1" long making
it = to a three or four core. both inlet & outlet need to be move & they sell aluminum hose connectors in 1 3/4" & 2" that can be cut & welded
in place but a curved hose will be needed on top like you did. Or make the inlet to line up correctly? They have a fitting on the bottom of the
top tank that can be used for a over flow using a pass threw compression fitting. They have aluminum T style neck ( is a dummy that can be
drilled out to use as a fill.) You would have to make a rod mount also. I gave up & returned it to Speedway rather than spend hours making the
bottom tank clear the crossmember & pan nose. I ended up making a radiator from a brass forklift radiator. Saved about $1,100.
Side note this is on my speedster so that might be a little more acceptable to the serious collectors, they are usually appalled that it's speedster!
Craig.

There are some of the older tractor radiators (40’s -70’s) that are close to the same dimensions of a T radiator. You may have to rework the neck and inlets to get them to work but it’s been done.

It’s been on the forum before about the aluminum bucket T radiators and why the company that makes them couldn’t build them with the same outlet locations. They definitely would sell in my opinion. But who am I to say.

I did a ton of research into which rad to use that would fit well and require the minimum amount of work. I looked at pretty much every aluminum aftermarket radiator that is made for cars, trucks, tractors, machinery, etc. I read all the old posts on here as well before deciding on this particular rad. Labor hours wasn’t too bad actually. I did a lot of planning, measuring and sketching before actually starting construction.

Jason how many rows does the radiator have?

I did the same with my speedster. Biggest problem was they painted the radiator with aluminum paint but advertised it as "natural" mine was listed as a 32 lowboy if memory serves. It was fit into a cut down Minneapolis Moline radiator shell so might work for a low radiator?

Three rows.

My criteria was 1. Must have inlet in outlet in correct position already. 2. Must fit within frame. 3. Only modifications would need to be in non water contact areas. (no cutting into internal areas of rad) 4. Look OK from 10' away


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QZPSVXD

I love my brassworks radiator, but we need a less expensive alternative especially for speedster people.

Tim

Tim Williams wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 19, 2025 2:05 pm

I love my brassworks radiator, but we need a less expensive alternative especially for speedster people.

Tim

For everybody.

So true john.

Tim

I'm quite impressed with the work Jason did on this radiator. It displays good design, excellent workmanship, and a willingness to make the effort of fabrication. And I especially applaud the plan to have this as a stop-gap solution until the stars align and a more authentic item can be fitted. As a fabricator myself, I really appreciate the effort that goes into this sort of thing.

I'm far less impressed with the inevitable responses to the effect of: "I sure wish someone would make a quality part for $xxx, and then proceed to do absolutely nothing toward making that happen. "Where oh, where are all of our suppliers going???" "Not that I plan to ever spend an extra Nickle with them!"

I'm quite sure there is some shop in India that will happily employ a bunch of under-age barefoot kids to cobble out a radiator for less than Brassworks, and then dump the scrap lead and brass in the river behind the shop. There are plenty of places like that there. You just have to ask around. With the prevailing mindset in the hobby, if I was a supplier looking to stay in business with a customer-base that chased the cheapest the farthest, I would most certainly be looking for a vendor of cheap crap just to fill that void. It only makes sense. There are several billion Chinamen and Indians willing to fight over those US dollars, so why keep those dollars in our own neighborhood? That would just be plain selfish!

Honestly, I cannot believe the number of people in this hobby who cannot stand to see their neighbor make a good enough living to pay for a home and take a vacation every 6-7 years!

Even when there IS a quality part made, Que the inevitable Old Crank who will declare "I wish they'd make the damn thing RIGHT!". "Henry never made it out of such flimsy material!!"

So, lets take a $300 core, purchase the brass and stamp out a dozen different embossed brass parts for $200 more, and then pay $125/hr shop rate for 6 hours of work and build a radiator. Oh, and then treat the water from the tank so that it is cleaner than spring water, pay a hazmat company to take away the lead and flux residue, pay city, county, state and Federal Taxes. Finally, let every Tom, Dick and Harry Model T supplier take a small chunk of the sale price to get the thing sold under their Banner, and finally end up with some bucks to put into your pocket to reimburse you for your trouble of keeping the lights on.

You don't want to fork out a grand or more for an American made quality radiator, but you expect someone to start a business that might cost them a million or so to set up just so they can produce cheap crap for you until they go broke and lose it all? If folks don't make enough money to purchase quality goods, maybe they might want to think why they're paid so little - perhaps because what they produce can be bought cheaper from China or India and they're just shite out of luck. What goes around does indeed comes around. I'd like to see cheaper, better goods, too, but I am also a realist who lives in the world as it exists, not the world as I wish it was.

$1200 for a radiator??? Those BASTARDS!

"Weld" done!

Nice solution and neatly put together.
I like your thinking ahead for the day after you have replaced,tyres, kingpins etc.

All the best.

purchase the brass and stamp out a dozen different embossed brass parts for $200 more, and then pay $125/hr shop rate for 6 hours of work and build a radiator. Oh, and then treat the water from the tank so that it is cleaner than spring water, pay a hazmat company to take away the lead and flux residue, pay city, county, state and Federal Taxes. Finally, let every Tom, Dick and Harry Model T supplier take a small chunk of the sale price to get the thing sold under their Banner, and finally end up with some bucks to put into your pocket to reimburse you for your trouble of keeping the lights on

When Henry made these things that's (relatively) just what he did.

He made millions of them - something called supply and demand.

Today the demand is probably less than 3 figures a year. Math works out the rest.

Is $1,200 too much for a 'new' American built replacement?? probably not.
Do you want to give your money overseas?? Probably not.

The real question is how much can you afford to keep your hobby going? Probably not a lot after all of your living costs are taken care of, grand kids given ice cream, wife taken to the lake for the weekend, new jeans to wear to work.....

Model T Fords are still the cheapest car hobby car.

Brassworks, Rootlieb, Ray Wells, Chaffin, Lang, Snyder, Berg, Dan, Manachi, Pharis, many more made that happen.

Try buying a new Jag radiator or a Ferrari fender at these prices.

I bought my low round tube radiator from a kid fresh out of high school at his parents house in Anaheim Hills years ago.
Still on the car, and still looks new. It was the first prototype for the Brassworks.

Scott,

Would you please get off of my soap box...., with both of us on it, it's going to break brother!

I hear you loud and clear!

Well, Hank, then I'd say you need a better quality soapbox...

Build a going business.... and you'll attract unionists.

I’ve had several small manufacturing business endeavors over the years Usually tied to one of my hobbies. It’s really a tough thing - I applaud anyone who is making a go of it. Ideas are easy, pulling them off and making money is the hard part. Like I said earlier. My labor is free for me, but if I had to pay myself for the labor and design work, etc. I certainly could have purchased the brass Works radiator.

I went to the radiator shop that advertised doing everything. Told them I was looking for an economical option. Thought was take an aluminum core weld the inlet, outlet and fill on and be done. First it was "we will need to cnc the filler neck" i informed them that was unnecessary as 2 inch aluminum pipe works fine as it isn't threaded. Their quote $1500 needless to say I took the radiator back.

$219 bought a cheap new one on ebay. I cut/ground the cubes then found a welder that invested an hour for 150 as mines not setup. Exactly what I asked the radiator shop to do, but for $1000 less.

I don't think anyone is complaining about Brassworks cost for a quality product. I have talked to a major radiator company that can make Model
T cores & they would need $600 - $800 for a core & $200-$300 to install ( this would be a core with the steel plate ) Flat tube only. This would be
a re-core not a new radiator. Modern cores don't have the plate! so a shop re-core is not as good as a new Brassworks.
Looking for alternatives to save money is a need for some of us so we can enjoy the hobby. T's are not my only passion in the automotive hobby
I also like Hot Rods & am working on a T bucket ( made the body myself with some repaired T parts not suitable for restoration or not altered in
anyway ) Also a 1966 GMC pickup. Both will use repurposed radiators that can be purchased new for under $200. I'm one of those guys that does
95% of the work myself on a budget so I can afford to play, And enjoy building them as much as if not more than driving them.
God bless you guys that can afford to write a check for anything & pay someone to do the work. You should be proud of yourselves I Shure am.
Unfortunately $2,000 may be our whole years budget & having to spend that on a radiator is some what discouraging.
Craig.

Not to steal Jason's thread or ingenuity, but if you're going in this direction, here's another cheaper solution with all parts needed ( less taxes and shipping ) for ONLY $184.40 ! The radiator to begin with is a 24-27 Ford T street rod radiator from RADIATOR CLUB. It is a 3 row, flat tube, aluminum radiator made to the dimensions of an original 24-27 T radiator and will fit under an original tall shell. It even has tabs on the side to mount on a Model T frame. Next, is an aluminum filler neck which accommodates an original T radiator cap from DILLON RADIATOR. It will need to be welded on the top tank in the position to match the shell filler neck opening. As this radiator is pressurized, it has a pressure cap filler which can be left if pressurization is desired, or removed and filled shut if the top neck was made functional. The outlet on the bottom tank is on the driver's side as the original, but the inlet is on the passengers side. it will have to be removed and the hole filled. A new provision for a radiator support rod will have to be welded on to the tank but that design is up to you. The new aluminum inlet ( from SPEEDWAY MOTORS ) will need to be welded to the center of the top tank, and that completes your radiator for $184.40 for parts. Welding labor (if you can't do it yourself), taxes on parts, and shipping on some parts (some may offer free shipping) is all the extra expense to finish. If your building a "driver", and NOT a show car or truck, this is a heck of a lot more affordable than a new brass radiator.
I forgot to mention, all these items ca be found on EBAY, so you don't have to go web surfing.

Well said Craig.

That's the point, anyone of us would by Brassworks all day long, quality is great, but as you stated lots of us have to budget for this hobby and a whole years budget can be spent on one BW radiator.

Tim

Git him Allan from Down Under ! Terry referred to ‘drivers side’ and ‘passengers side’.

George House wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 20, 2025 7:48 pm

Git him Allan from Down Under ! Terry referred to ‘drivers side’ and ‘passengers side’.

Well George, since most readers of the forum recognize that you (and I) live in Texas; and that Texas is apart of the United States (although their is a group that wants Texas to secede) I post as if 'state siders' are reading and let those who drive on the 'wrong' side of the road, to figure it out.