Heater Core Brand Recommendations?

[OLE PONY]

I bypassed my heater core last fall and I'm finally thinking about replacing it. It is a non-A/C car and I'm asking for opinions on what brands anyone has bought and how they looked quality wise.

Ohio Mustang is out of stock with a price of $36.95

CJ Pony Parts has one on sale for $34.84 with free shipping and ships in 5-7 days.

Autozone has one for $21.99 plus shipping with a lifetime guarantee and ships in 2 days (these lifetime guarantee's are great since I've already owned the car since 1974!).

Autozone has a detailed description of their Spectra brand core as follows:

Innovative engineering, manufacturing technology and quality control ensure that Spectra Premium heaters meet or exceed the performance of the original equipment heaters they replace.


Designed for exact fit in the vehicle’s original equipment heater casing


All heaters are 100% leak tested


100% new, OE style


Only the highest grades of materials are used in our production to ensure product longevity

Anyway, any comments on the quality of the Autozone brand?

In another heater core thread I noticed that RacerX had bought one form CJ's and that adm22 had bought one from Autozone; any comments on their quality.

 

[87fox72mach]

Just ordered mine from cj had nothing but great experiences with them so far

 

[jbojo]

Classic Auto Air out of Florida sells quality parts for both AC and non AC systems. I think that as long as you get the copper core and not the aluminum core you should be ok no matter what brand you go with. Just my thoughts here.

-jbojo

 

[caspianwendell]

Classic Auto Air out of Florida sells quality parts for both AC and non AC systems. I think that as long as you get the copper core and not the aluminum core you should be ok no matter what brand you go with. Just my thoughts here.

-jbojo

I had a rude experience with those guys. Maybe he was having a bad day but you don't treat your customers that way

 

[jbojo]

I had a rude experience with those guys. Maybe he was having a bad day but you don't treat your customers that way

I have dealt with them a couple of times now with no issues. Even had to return a part after I had it over 6 weeks and there was no issues getting it exchanged even though I fell behind on my project and didn't discover the issue for a while. They have even given me good advice with relocating the compressor to the passenger side of the engine compartment. You are right about being rude to you no matter what kind of day they were having though.

-jbojo

 

[RacerX]

Got mine from CJ's. Looks to be like the original, good quality welding at the pipe connections. Looks like it should last as long as the orig.

vatozone may be lifetime warranty, because you'll be changing it out for your lifetime....

Not much of anything I've ever bought from them is worth the time or money, in my experience. I'd rather have the Motorcraft, A/C, etc, etc, etc brand name stuff.

Recently replacing my front disk pads on my truck, went in to Oreillys. Asked the counterman if they carried Raybestos brakes, he asked me what Raybestos is, he had never heard of them. I turned around and walked out.

 

[mweeps]

We have one sitting on a shelf from Cj's never have the time to tear into it and never drive it when the heat is needed.

 

[OMS]

I stopped stocking heater cores when copper went up. You can go to napa or any local parts store to get one cheaper.

 

[bkdunha]

West Coast Classic Cougar advertises a copper one. I would agree with the comments regarding the use of a copper. The price is a bit higher, but I think it is related to the cost of materials. I plan to buy the best one I can locate for my replacement very soon as it is a mess to cleanup after one goes bad a a nuisance to take all of the assembly out of the dash. I am personally not a big fan of Autozone with living in the town of their headquarters and knowing some of their inside information.

 

[OLE PONY]

It looks like NAPA, Rock Auto, Auto Parts Warehouse, and AutoZone all sell the same Spectra Premium heater core. The price range for the same part number ranges from $21.99 at AutoZone up to $39.31 at Auto Parts Warehouse. Autozone offers the lifetime guarantee, while the others offer a 1 or 2 year guarantee. Go figure.

I read some internet reviews on the Spectra from various different forums and all were positive, so I guess I will go with the AutoZone one with the best price and fastest advertised shipping too.

CJ Pony parts did not state the brand name of theirs.

Thanks for all the input.

Once I receive it I will take some close-up pictures and post them up. If it looks like poor quality I will return it.

 

[Totalled]

Go with the OE style. The aluminum ones usually have tighter fin spacing, and restrict the airflow out of the system, compared to the copper/brass style.

 

[adm22]

I got the Autozone one a couple of years ago think it was more than they quted you. Been told they have different prices in different areas due to competition. Pian to get installed but no porblmes with it. Adviseable to also replace the fan motor if you have a non AC car since they are also very difficult to get to and also go bad. I did both at once since it was sitting right there. AC cars have blower motors that are easy to replace.

 

[73StangCoupe]

I just got finished replacing mine with the one from CJPONY Parts.

http://www.cjponyparts.com/heater-core-with-air-conditioning-1967-1973/p/HC2/

Looked to be a quality piece and is now working fine, I hope for a LONG time!!