The problem with the people who supply what we need is that they are getting few and far between. I had my radiator done by the brassworks and it did come in a bit higher but not as much as Jeff's did. With the radiators there are what maybe 3 companies in the U.S. That repair these things to their original state and even those get their core material from a place in the U.K which is the only place in the world I believe (Or at least that is what I've been told by several radiator shops) that make the core material. EGGE is the same way and charges an arm and a leg for pistons etc but who you gonna go to? There is a company in Australia that I think Rick used which is much cheaper. Look what I'm going to have to do to get my engine rebuilt. Can't seem to find a shop in the Southeast to do Babbit work and re-do the engine. Sure there are machine shops, just no one know how to do Babbit. Chroming in the same way. Send a picture of your part for an estimate so you can budget for the work and then the bill comes in much higher depending on the prep work needed. It just ain't going to get any easier on our era cars and they move towards the 100 year old mark.

Where Are You From? Oviedo, Florida

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 Durant Model 65 4 door sedan

We went on a tour through the Brass Works, what about 3 years back...Really nice up to date shop with all the best equipment and personel, but what would scare the hell out of me is that they are going to have a terrific overhead ...Jeff had already been quoted for a new core and aggreed to extra charges up front, what more could be left for $1,300? Overhead?

The way our chrome shop works in Yuma, AZ ...They will give you a firm quote from detailed pictures which will be a "not to exceed price", meaning that when you ship the parts to them to be chrome plated will be the same price when they are finished, however the price could actually go down (They want 50% up front) ...That is the way they operate and I have never had a problem...I will usually take my stuff in to be chromed myself so that I can barter with them but as a rule I can't get their price down all that much if any...They are reasonable and they do good work.

Where Are You From? Leavenworth, WA / Yuma, AZ

Do You own a car built by Durant? Several

The West Coast Chapter Toured their shop a few years ago. I've been back for two Model T radiators. A fan blade broke and ruined the first one they made. The return inlet on the second had to be modified as the cross member it sits on was bent. They reworked it and didn't charge me anything. I have been very satisfied with their work.

Building a radiator is an incredibly labor intensive process. My Star radiator is made up of hundreds of square tubes that need to be stacked together and then soldered. When I replaced mine, I had it done in England. The cost was well north of $3,300.

According to BW, it takes a year of training before someone can be expected to do a radiator on their own. The California labor market is very tight and our environmental regulations are the strictest in the nation.

Where Are You From? North of Golden Gate Bridge

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1925 Star Touring

Jeff - This will be the third time we have spoken on this issue. Each time you do not like the answer so you go to a new echo chamber of the internet to make your case and someone in the Durant club contacts me about it. Each time your story gets more colorful too; "take it or leave it", "he's mad" etc etc

We provide an estimate that is based on past builds. The more extreme the builds the broader the estimate range. Since there are few Durants and fewer needing radiators we have fewer data points. Your particular build provides one more data point and the estimate range will broaden. We will also see notes on your build that the tanks were scrap and required additional hours. To be absolutely clear; No one foresaw your build taking 14.42 hours or we would have told you.

You feel mistreated because we neglected to call you to re-estimate after we determined your tanks were scrap or to call you during the build that the job was taking longer than the last Durant took. I feel mistreated too. Everyone feels mistreated now.

Where Are You From? california

Do You own a car built by Durant? not yet

For the life of me, I just don't understand why the shop didn't say whoa, this is going way over the estimate we provided, we should call the customer and discuss what we found before going any further. Take a few minutes, call the customer and he'll likely agree with your findings and say go ahead and do it. Drop a big cost surprise bomb on him and he's apt to react like a cornered dog. Who wouldn't? You just can't spring a whopping big charge on someone that was expecting it to come in close to the estimate provided.

Where Are You From? Oro, Ontario

Do You own a car built by Durant? Star F Touring

the problem with lee is he wants people to feel bad for him if you have the radiator in front of you and you have experience in rebuilding them for years and you give a price you should stand by your quote and im not the only person you have done this to. IM not looking for anyone from club to call him just beware of how he does business and if price was a couple hundred over ok but 1000 without calling customer is poor business and you should be called on it

Do You own a car built by Durant? yes

I absolutely agree with Jeff! If I ever need a recore job I would be prone to try Johnson's Radiators in Sydney, AU.

Where Are You From? Texarkana, TX

Do You own a car built by Durant? Several