Hello all, the radiator appears to be very stock as far as dimensions, however it has a honeycomb fin arrangement. under the radiator cap it says "The corEoRan manufacturing Company, Peerless Radiator, Made in USA, Cincinnati OH" (capital letters in the word coreoran denotes letters that are severely worn and illegible thus these letters could be other letters entirely). I dont plan on selling this, but how rare is this sucker? how much is it worth? should i take it off and simply preserve it?
Nathan, the Corcoran Mfg co made a honeycomb radiator for T's in the 20's. It was sold with a shell as shown with there name on it and called the "Peerless". The text reads "Radiator for ford car pat appl'd for The Corcoran Mfg co Cin'ti-Ohio".
Rich
Honeycomb type radiators were made for Fords by many companies, beginning in the early '10s on up well into the '50s at least. Peerless is one of the best and best known because they thought enough of their product to put their name on it prominently.
A lot of Ts are still using them. Generally Peerless seems to work reasonably well. Some other honeycomb radiators, not so much.
Unless you are trying to put this car back to "as Henry built it", I would say "use it".
Drive carefully, and wear a funny hat! W2
Wow! cool information. Thanks sadly i dont have the radiator shell as well but i think i will take it to a shop and have them look it over and perhaps clean it for me before i use it
Be careful with modern radiator shops. Many do not know how to care for an old radiator, and only want to sell you a new radiator for your modern car. It doesn't work the same with old radiators.
Many T people flush them out themselves using vinegar or some other favorite concoction. The risk is, that flushing an old radiator can sometimes open up old leaks. And honeycomb radiators can be tricky to solder even small leaks unless you really know what you are doing. I often use a good grade epoxy on small leaks, and I have soldered dozens of radiators over the past forty years.
Drive carefully, and wear a funny hat! W2
I have seen several examples of the later Peerless radiator and shell as seen in Richards photo. I have one for the brass era cars and was wondering how rare they are. It is destined for a speedster project and gives it a nice look.
I have enjoyed the Peerless shell on my speedster for many years. It is on a standard radiator as I have never found a Corcoran radiator for it.
Many folks assume the car is a Peerless and one fellow insisted his grandfather owned a Peerless just like it.
Rich
Here is the Peerless radiator and the shell I mentioned.
James -- I've seen lots of Peerless radiator shells, but never one like that. They can't be very plentiful. And that honeycomb radiator core is different from others I've seen. That setup is way cool!
The radiator which is in very good condition and well made has no markings on it but is a perfect fit for the shell. What is also odd is the mounting holes are of the diameter to use the thimbles used on the 17 and later cars.
okay folks, any chance my radiator shell is a peerless shell with the logo removed?
Here's my honeycomb on my 22, it cools great. Best part is that it was on my truck when grandpa parked it in 42! There are no markings on it for what brand it is.
Nathan, I'm not sure but this is a photo of one in the Speedway Motors museum in Lincoln Neb.
It seems to have the same general shape as yours.
ohhhh this is cool ill have to strip off the 300 layers of primer and paint and see if i have any fun stuff underneath