The Ford Barn

malpais · 11-09-2012, 10:39 PM

Took one of my '39 commercial radiators to an old school radiator shop today. Before they saw it, the father of the outfit said "no problem”; the son said, "no, the top tank on a 39 is wide (deep) and has a curved bottom so we can't get a core". They proceeded to discuss if the 39 should have wide top tank with fan indent, or not. They work on lots of flathead radiators, but they thought 39-40 somewhere was a transition years, with 40 being narrow top tank "for sure".

So.......what should a 39 commercial have? I have 3 radiators, with wide top tanks and fan indents....are they all wrong? I took two of em out of '39 pickups, and one's in my 38.

Also, seems shops mentioned on the Barn could get curved-topped cores?

May be of no concern, as they poked around, found the tubes to be solid, and the fins are good so they said they could rebuild it. Said they would have to remove the tanks to clean and maybe rod, and some old work on the tanks would need cleaning up, and there are some dents that we'll have to fix while we have the tanks off, so they warned me "it may be $200 or $250"!

11-09-2012, 10:39 PM	#1
malpais Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Northern Colorado Posts: 506	'39 commercial radiators Took one of my '39 commercial radiators to an old school radiator shop today. Before they saw it, the father of the outfit said "no problem”; the son said, "no, the top tank on a 39 is wide (deep) and has a curved bottom so we can't get a core". They proceeded to discuss if the 39 should have wide top tank with fan indent, or not. They work on lots of flathead radiators, but they thought 39-40 somewhere was a transition years, with 40 being narrow top tank "for sure". So.......what should a 39 commercial have? I have 3 radiators, with wide top tanks and fan indents....are they all wrong? I took two of em out of '39 pickups, and one's in my 38. Also, seems shops mentioned on the Barn could get curved-topped cores? May be of no concern, as they poked around, found the tubes to be solid, and the fins are good so they said they could rebuild it. Said they would have to remove the tanks to clean and maybe rod, and some old work on the tanks would need cleaning up, and there are some dents that we'll have to fix while we have the tanks off, so they warned me "it may be $200 or $250"!