Update Silicon Garage Custom Radiators availability

[9Grenzen]

Update regarding the availability of Silicon Garage Custom Radiators

Some of you already know that we have been out of production for about three months due to the shortage of raw material to make the special custom copper cores we use to build the 2002, Coupe, Bavaria, E12 and 320i radiators.

The good news is that we have supplies on the way. They should be in place by the end of the September and production should begin around the first of October.

The even better news is that the price will stay the same for now.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding

I have a waiting list already started. If you would like to order one please contact me

silicongarage02@gmail.com

510-507-2002

Mark

[thehackmechanic]

Thanks for the update. I won't bug you about mine!

[VonTrapp]

Has anyone heard from Mark recently?

I've been trying to contact him for the last four weeks (in regards to my radiator he's modifying/making) and haven't heard back from emails or phone call. It's getting frustrating, to say the least.

[justinevert]

Got a tri core OEM style '02 radiator that could use your touch that I don't need.

Please let me know if you're interested. justin_evertatsbcglobaldotnet.

Justin

[Luis]

I was going to ask the same thing about Mark's whereabouts. No response to text, email or phone calls for weeks. He's had my core radiator since June. Never had so much trouble trying to spend $500. Anyone heard from him recently?

[VonTrapp]

I was able to speak with Mark on the phone today concerning the Silicon Garage radiators and he is alive (not vacationing in Mexico with a bunch of radiators like I was worried) but has been slammed with life and business issues. I'll let him go into any life details, but I'll pass along radiator info:

The short story on the radiators is, he's been waiting to get the copper supplies and keeps being told "They'll be on their way in 1 week" by the supplier. After two weeks, he'll call up the supplier and be told, "Sorry, there was a delay, it'll just be a week and they'll be to you."

Well, play that repeated scenario out over and over and over again, and that's what's causing an inability to produce our radiators. He said he has a phone call coming in about the supplies today - so, we all can cross our fingers for good news and Mark should be posting on here an update/check-in for the customers waiting.

[Djthom]

Hi All

 

Are these rads still being produced?   All the threads on the topic are nearly as 10 years old.  I've emailed Mark at the addresses in the threads

 

If not, what is the current "best option" for improved cooling?   Some suppliers have "high performance" options on their sites 

[Conserv]

Walloth & Nesch HD radiator. Not their turbo radiator. I’ve been an ‘02 owner continuously since 1973 — I’ve had triple-cores, modern, high-tech double cores — and this blows them all away.

 

There are multiple threads discussing it. Here are a couple:

 

 

 

If you have, or contemplate having, A/C, there is a brand new W&N version that accommodates that with an outboard, angled lower hose outlet. Many of us had to modify the non-A/C version before the A/C version was introduced. (There is a considerable price premium associated with the A/C version. All U.S.-bound ‘02’s from approximately 1972 onward received factory versions of A/C radiators.)

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[Djthom]

Th*nks Steve.  Another wrinkle is I intend to put AC in the car and need the angled lower outlet.  The WN HD rad has a straight outlet 

[Conserv]

On 7/6/2021 at 7:18 PM, Djthom said:

Th*nks Steve.  Another wrinkle is I intend to put AC in the car and need the angled lower outlet.  The WN HD rad has a straight outlet 

Read the above. Many of us had angled lower outlets transplanted onto the W&N HD radiator. But, now, at a hefty premium, W&N is offering a version of their HD radiator with the angled lower outlet. You’ve got to figure out if the premium W&N charges is a better or worse deal for you. In the instance of a 1975-76 — or any model year — where you also want a factory shroud, you might nonetheless be modifying your new W&N radiator to accommodate a shroud. And if you’re adding the shroud mounts, maybe you simply have a local radiator shop deal with the lower outlet as well.

 

For U.S. buyers, the price without V.A.T. applies, see below.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

 

[conkitchen]

Correct me if I'm wrong, I thought the guy running Silicon Garage is dead, no?  

 

Anyways, I had a local rad shop do a high capacity rebuild using the original tanks for $300. Proper date stamp and everything. 

 

but what do I know. 

[Conserv]

On 7/7/2021 at 10:42 AM, conkitchen said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, I thought the guy running Silicon Garage is dead, no?  

 

Anyways, I had a local rad shop do a high capacity rebuild using the original tanks for $300. Proper date stamp and everything. 

 

but what do I know. 

Yes. He passed some years ago. He was apparently a very wonderful member of the ‘02 community.

 

As to re-coring, it’s fine. My ‘76 was on it’s third re-coring with the original tanks. The re-cores included two triple-cores and a higher-tech double core. (The “high-tech” double core — more fins and tubes per cubic inch than the older triple cores — might have been the best of these.) They were OK — the ‘76 has had A/C since new and we spent 9 years in Atlanta. So it saw heat challenges.

 

What made me move to the W&N was that the original upper tank sprang two tiny leaks, one right after the other. As I prepared for a fourth re-core — the ‘76 has only 105K miles on it and has led a fairly good, one-owner life — the radiator guy said that the upper tank, in particular, had reached the end of its life and I should expect an increasing number of pinholes leaks. ?

 

So, I decided to try the highly-praised W&N radiator. It puts cooling in a different league from any re-core I’ve ever had of a stock radiator. Having had 4 ‘02’s over the last 48 years, all exhibited operating temperatures consistently above the “3 o’clock” line. If I sat in traffic on an 88 degree, or higher, day, I’ve always had to switch off A/C. No more! Operating temperatures with the W&N have been strictly below the “3 o’clock” line unless you sit for a long time with the A/C on. And even then it just barely rises above 3 o’clock. I never worry about overheating anymore, ever!

 

Obviously, YMMV. But after 48 years of ‘02 ownership, I will probably never return to a factory radiator. My ‘73 tii has its original, appropriately-dated radiator. And you know how I love old original sh*t! ? But the engine is being overhauled now, and I have a modified W&N waiting to go in it! The ‘73 has A/C and I’m not taking chances with another nearly-50-year-old radiator. So that’s why I switched. I was well-satisfied with original radiators until I happened across the W&N! ?

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

[OriginalOwner]

I got lucky before Curt Ingraham (Silicon Garage) passed away.  I had heard about his 3-row cores and bought one.   Then like conkitchen, my local radiator guy put together the new core with the original tanks.  No cooling problems since then.

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by OriginalOwner

[jp5Touring]

$737.   ouch

[Conserv]

3 hours ago, jp5Touring said:

$737.   ouch

Or… $620 plus shipping if you’re in the U.S. (V.A.T. does not apply). W&N almost always seems to have a $25 credit, or something similar. So maybe $595 plus shipping right now. But, yes, if you already have a good donor radiator sitting around, you could well be better off just modifying the original version yourself (still under $400 for U.S. buyers!), as many of us did before the A/C version was introduced.

 

Best regards,

 

Steve