2 core rad examination help?

I have been prepping my car for paint in the engine compartment, I removed the rad to clean it and examine the situation. As I had the rad removed I noticed that the bottom corner fins were bent and some are snapped off. I really was planning to just clean the rad and paint it. Now I am wondering if the fins can be replaced. I searched the net and found straighteners and one site the sold industrial radiator fins. I guess my question is what is involved in replacing fins on your rad or can it be done?.


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The fins are connected to the core tubes. The fins are what makes contact with the air and they direct the air over the tubes for cooling. The issue I would have is to see if the fins are starting to rust out, if they are, time for a new radiator cause it will leak under pressure.

Thanks I did check a little closer and it seems as if the first set of fins were ripped out for about 5 inches on one stran and it seems like there is more fins behind them. This is on the bottom right hand corner of the rad. Can I epoxy or glue fins in there or repair this. I have no leaks, or would it be better to clean it up and paint it. If so what can you use to clean this to be painted with the special paint for rads...

just clean it up as best you can then paint it.

Dont bother with epoxy or glue, that would defeat the purpose of the fins. Solder would work but if you dont know what your doing then you would risk causing some REAL problems. Like leaks. Your worring too much. A couple of missing fins wont hurt a thing. I knew a guy who built a 4wd volkswagen van on a scout frame and put in a ford 289 v-8. He was a mechanical genious, that was one of his simpler projects.. Anyway, I was amazed to see that he actually took out sections of the radiator that were bad and soldered them up. Were talking an inch by a couple of inches in a couple different places, it does reduce the cooling capability but the radiator was still very functional.

A couple of missing fins wont hurt at all. Just straighten them out the best you can. Missing fins will actualy have less of a negative effect then bent ones because the bent ones block the airflow, missing ones will not.

Good info, I did however go and buy a 2 core rad and found out that the original was a 3 core. Is it possible that this new rad could cool just as well. I was told it was from one of the last corsica's...