Plastic & aluminium radiators- repairable?

[POD]

My daughter's VS commodore radiator sprung a dramatic leak yesterday- either the tank has split or the join between the tank and core has failed- difficult to tell as the leak is right in close to the join and spewing coolant out along about 5 inches of the seam. Can new plastic tanks be fitted to aluminium radiators?

[67hardtop]

Cheaper to buy a new rad. Can be had for around $100.

Cheers Rod

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[POD]

Already replaced the radiator. Wondering if the tanks or gasket can be replaced, i.e. the possibility rather than the economics. When time permits I'll remove the tank and have a look at how they are sealed.

[67hardtop]

You can buy the tanks for some radiators and the seals. The problem is when you bend the tabs back they sometimes break off as you're squeezing them back and they are hard to reseal as well coz they are hard to get the right tension on the seal, on aluminium radiators that is. Copper cored radiators, (with plastic tanks), are easier to put new plastic tanks on but still hard to reseal properly, as the radiators are made by machine these days. Its sometimes just not economically viable to repair modern radiators any more hence many old school rad repairers have gone.

Cheers Rod

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