Update on DeWitts C2 Radiator Pricing

[Frederick H.]

Was checking prices on expansion tank for my '63 ($349) and saw the pricing for a '63-72 restoration radiator at $1,377 .
Geez Leweez.

[James W.]

I know they have gotten pricey, but I have to say at least we are lucky that they are still making a very correct reproduction part that works as it is intended. I may be in the market for a new one for my '65 next spring.

James

[Frederick H.]

Yep - good reproductions are getting harder to find.

[Mark F.]

FYI - Except for a pass thru a vertical oven on a conveyor to solder all the copper fins (waffles) to the tubes - and the asphalt coating she describes at the end, this video very closely represents what I saw on a multi-day job I did in 1981 at Ford’s Green Island Radiator Plant where all their copper/brass radiators and heater cores were manufactured.

PS - the tube mill I saw (she says “rollers”) operates more like a machine gun – much faster than shown in this video. The noise at that machine was incredible.

Fascinating process !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF7k5lCm1K8

[John F.]

Pretty good video!

[Mark F.]

Pretty good video!

Yes...and the Plant I was in was built in 1922.
The floor was wood 4x4s standing on end into the ground (maybe 6x6s ?); was totally uneven; and stained with drips and drabs from everything for the past 60 years before I did my job there.
nothing like automotive plants today...
lots of patina in that old place place

[Terry M.]

Yes...and the Plant I was in was built in 1922.
The floor was wood 4x4s standing on end into the ground (maybe 6x6s ?); was totally uneven; and stained with drips and drabs from everything for the past 60 years before I did my job there.
nothing like automotive plants today...
lots of patina in that old place place

Those wooden floors took a beating and kept on asking for more. They were common in industrial and warehouse buildings. Their only negative was they burned fiercely.

[Joe L.]

The floor was wood 4x4s standing on end into the ground (maybe 6x6s ?); was totally uneven; and stained with drips and drabs from everything

Mark-----

That's exactly how the floor was in the old GM Flint V-8 Engine Plant as seen when we toured it in 1992.

[Joe L.]

Was checking prices on expansion tank for my '63 ($349) and saw the pricing for a '63-72 restoration radiator at $1,377 .
Geez Leweez.

Frederick-----


The 1963-72 Corvette aluminum radiator, GM #3155316, was discontinued without supercession by GM in 1986. The last GM list price I have on it was from 1984 and it was $665.00 at that time. Adjusted for inflation to the present day it would be $2,065. Plus, GM SERVICE parts usually far exceed the general rate of inflation. So, the DeWitts radiator is actually quite a bargain at $1377.

[Mark F.]

Terry and Joe,

As a retired Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), I should have been aware of some of the hazards AND BENEFITS of wood floors...

The wood (at least back then) was treated with creosote...nasty stuff in its' raw state
It was probably more hazardous to the guys installing the blocks ...particularly dermal and ocular exposures than employees working in a factory with those floors afterwards.

Benefits of wood floors compared to concrete included noise reduction (less reflectivity) and vibration damping (also reduces noise generated by equipment mounted to the floor).
Wood floors were also easier on the feet and back (ergonomics) when standing for a full shift...

image.png
interesting reading here, too...
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/i-was-there-4/#:~:text=The%20blocks%20(usually%202%20x,old%20blo cks%20with%20new%20ones.

[Gary C.]

DeWitt's offers NCRS members a discount. You have to call them to get the discount.

Put a DeWitt's double row in my '92 ZR1 last year and it kooools much better at slows speeds.

Gary
....👍

[Frederick H.]

Good to know - thanks Gary.