Copper vs Aluminum heater core for 71 valiant

67Dart273 said

All of the old cores were brass or copper/ combo of. Aluminum did not come into play until......?? the nineties ? or so

Even so, the old cores can rot out depending on water quality. Back when I was stationed in San Diego, the water down there would rot a radiator out in a few years. That is where I learned to use store bought purified water in a rad.

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I've only ever used distilled water but it's up in the air what the previous owners used. I doubt this thing is all rotted out though from the amount of coolant disappearing. Just to be on the safe side maybe I had better get a male to male couple for the heater hoses so if I do yank the core and it's not fixable I can just join the hoses together. It wouldn't have heat but at least I could keep driving.