alloy radiator core for mk2 escort

[whensparksfly]

Ive read the threads about alloy radiator cores so thought i would buy a core for my mk2 escort and make a radiator i priced a few people not saying who one price was 180+vat and shipping and the other 160+vat and shipping and a full radiator is 220-250 what am i missing here.I though 100pound would get one.

 

[hotrodder]

Economies of scale and core quality... Rad specialists* are obviously buying cores in quantity which makes a BIG difference regardless of where they're sourcing them from. Some also buy large cores in various tube lengths (distance between end tank flanges) and then bandsaw them down to the correct stack height. While in principle this should be fine if done properly IME it's not- every rad i've ever had in for repair or recoring that was leaking at the corners where the tubes meet the tank flanges turned out to have been sawn down to size. In some cases the rad had already been back to the company that made it and when i cut it open i found that they'd welded the outer most tubes shut when they 'fixed it' and it was now leaking from the next tubes in!

* and if you're a one marque specialist that does as much as possible in house then you can buy 10 or 20 (whatever) idenitcal cores at a time and know they'll be the right size for every application etc