[TR] TR3 Radiator Choices

[Chip19474 at aol.com]

List,
 
If this thread has been worked over previously, please let me know where I  
can get info off-list and I'll save us some bandwidth!
 
A good friend of mine in our club lost lots of coolant from his radiator in 
 his TR3 over the weekend to a plastic grocery bag.  It seems that he  
couldn't avoid it blowing across the road and it snagged at 3000rpm onto the  
radiator fan which beat the poor radiator into a million leaks.  It's  been 
awhile since he's done any radiator service (1966!) so he's  not complaining 
about its longevity!
 
His question is: should he replace the radiator with an aluminum radiator  
or a stock "OEM" replacement?
 
He does not race the car and is not interested in any kind of performance  
upgrade or coolant system upgrade because the old radiator worked just fine  
before the plastic bag incident.  His reason for asking is to get a sense  
of whether the extra cost for an aluminum radiator makes sense because of  
possibly better heat transfer, easier installation, longer life than probably 
 Chinese made OEM radiator, etc?
 
Any thoughts from those of you who were at a similar decision point some  
time recently?
 
If it weren't for the likelihood that the new OEM radiator will probably be 
 made with less quality than his original, I would vote for an OEM unit 
from one  the usual suppliers.  'Course, if the aluminum radiator is also made  
elsewhere then I guess that levels the playing field to consider other  
advantages of aluminum.......
 
Thanks,
 
Chip Krout
Delaware Valley Triumphs, Ltd.
Skippack, PA
1976 TR6  CF57822U