finding suppliers for the tanks and cores, and then getting dyes made so
tank shells could be stamped correctly to match any radiator that might
need to be replicated.
It took Shirmer a couple of years of planning and teeth gnashing to
pull it off, but the operation has been a success.
“As far as I know, I’m the only guy in the world that can make these
tanks and logo them,” he said. “With Chrysler, I got in good with the
people that licensed me and they are happy with the product, and there
is such a limited [demand] ... You need so many parts to make these
right, you’d just have to have won the lottery to get into it like this. I
think it was two years in development to do it... People tell me I should
do Fords and Chevys, but I only know enough about them to be
dangerous.”
Now, Schirmer is armed with two attractive options when a MoPar
owner needs a radiator. He can put his years of experience and
perfectionist personality to work to fix a customer’s existing radiator, or
he can make them up an identical replica using all the correct factory
stampings.
“When I go to a show now, most of the time I have restored ones and I
have reproductions,” he said. “So I can show people the difference
between a new one and the ones we have restored.
“I’d say [demand] leans a little more toward restoring old ones, just
because of the cost. You pretty much double up the price to restore an
original ’66 Charger radiator when you’re putting in a reproduction one.
And a lot of times they have the original radiator for the car, so I really
push people to do that because it’s nice when you have all the original
parts to the car. It’s one of those things if you can do it, I think you
should.”
Schirmer knows he’s going to be working on the radiator either way,
regardless of whether a customer decides to fix his existing part or get a
replica made. On the new ones, Schirmer stamps the tank and does all
the prep work, then turns it over to assembly man Lenny Fronholtz, who
solders it together, assembles it and tests it. Schirmer then finishes the
job, priming and painting everything and carefully packaging it with
expandable foam for shipping.
Things can get a little more complicated and time consuming, of
course, when he has to try to make an old, tired radiator “look new
singke
(singke)
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