I do what I can myself to my truck with limited knowledge, but she recently died on me (vapor lock) and I sent her to my mechanic. He says I need a new radiator, and quoted me $360 for parts and $97 labor. Is this fair? $500 seems a bit high to me. Thanks

 

Seems high to me too.

 

What motor is in your 1976 F150 ?

 

Depends on what radiator you're getting - for example, prices at RockAuto range from $108-$332 for a '76 F-150 with 360. Add in hoses and the typical shop markup on parts, and the quote could be quite reasonable for having a shop do the work. But you'd probably save a couple hundred doing it yourself.

What's wrong with your old one? Leaking? Dirty/ineffective? The diagnosis sounds stranger than the price, given what you took it in for.

 

I've got the 360 motor.

 

Not quite sure. He just said, "your radiator is shot, and you were missing 2 gallons of coolant." I don't know anything about radiators, so I'm taking his word for it. He's always been fair.

 

by the time he replaces the coolant, etc...yes, th

 

Yes that sounds high for the parts price, have you priced shopped at 1-800-radiators?

https://www.radiator.com/

 

And my intake manifold gasket needs to be replaced, too. This is getting even more expensive.

 

Sounds like he probably found that it was leaking then. The price doesn't look unreasonable to me, for having a shop do it.

 

Mechanics aren't cheap....especially good ones.

Then you add in new coolant @ 12.00 a gallon, + I think they charge now for disposal of your old coolant the cost's go up..

Aren't mechanics 100 an hour now?

I paid less than 150 for a rad off rock auto.

 

An honest question, is doing it yourself an option? All you need is a wrench and a drainpan plus some sealer for the manifold gasket. If you've never turned wrenches on a vehicle before, this is a nice simple repair to get your feet wet. If you want to turn this thread into a step by step tutorial for your repair, I'm game. I'm sure plenty of others would help to.

 

I'm in too. I bought a rad for a 460 supercool from auto zone in 97, still hanging in there...

 

$200-250 would be a good figure by getting it from Autozone or Rock Auto. The nice thing is radiators back to the flathead era can be easily found. Like chrome shops, many radiator shops have disappeared too. Another reason I gave up on cars in favor of trucks is because of that. Truck radiators are readily available whereas many cars you have to have your existing one recored--usually $500 on up oif you can find someone to do it.

 

I bought a Champion 4 core on eBay for $270 and it works great.