Bit of a rant on aftermarket heater cores.

[440]

I'm at the stage of putting the two halves of my heater box together. I have an aftermarket core and also a spare heater box for parts which still had the original core in it. Due to my core being replaced before I took the box apart (and the previous owner failing any seals) I examined the original one for the location of the strip caulking.

Upon comparing the two cores the new one is like swiss cheese, it has more holes then a strainer. For those of you that have good original cores don't get replacement cores.  The factory went to the trouble to completely seal the core. These replacement ones have huge holes that will require more sealer then one would expect.

Look how tight the sealing is from the original one compared to the new one.....






Rant over....  

[Ghoste]

You're right, everything today is about cheaper and China.  I suppose we should be grateful we can still get a replacement core at all though.

[bull]

I agree too. One of the first things I bought for my restoration was an aftermarket heater core and right off I was struck by how cheapo it looked. Later I tested my original core and found it to be in good shape so I'll be using it instead.

[Mopar Crazy]

Is that an A/C heater core??? I'm going to need one this spring for a 68 Charger A/C.
Any thoughts on who would have a good quality replacement ??

[440]

Yes it is. Personally I'd take an oem core over an aftermarket one, especially over the one I have. I also had to slightly modify the two end seals as they wouldn't line up properly due to the stamping not being flat at the point of seal. Poorly designed in my opinion.

I don't doubt that these heater cores will work better then the originals. I don't know what brand my heater core is but I'll try to find out.

[maxwellwedge]

I always get my originals rebuilt if they need to be after testing. And - I always test them before putting a heater box back together. There is nothing worse than a heater core pissing anti-freeze all over your new carpet.

[440]

From what I can tell mine is a Classic Auto Air core.

Id see what Vista Pro/Proliance has to offer. I couldn't find any A/C heater cores although trying to do an extensive search the web on a phone is nearly impossible.

[Mopar Crazy]

Ok thanks for the thoughts... I guess I'll try to get an original and get it tested or re-cored.
I thought a new one would be better then a 44 year old part.
It sucks some of these repro's are made so cheap and is so expensive.. 

[lasvegas69charg]

i got mine from year one and it looks just like the new one in the pic.  it doesnt fit as good as the original one.

[68 Bullitt Charger]

What about having the orig one recored, like the radiator's are done?