I put my car together and drove it 9000 miles before I stripped it down for final paint.

I started out with a AFCO aluminum radiator and it broke the core tubes loose from the bottom header. It could not be repaired and had to be replaced. My belief is that it had something to do with how I had my hood mount to the body and twisting of the frame during driving is the cause of the radiator failure (in only about 3000 miles).

My replacement was from Walker, and my thought was copper might not be as effective in cooling as the aluminum type but at least it could be repaired if ever needed. I also changed the mounting so that the hood mounts only to the grill shell and not the sides of the radiator. Note, it does mount to the top of the radiator which allows for frame/body twist without twisting the radiator. The Walker has now gone 6000 miles without one problem.

To me, the fact that the Walker was serviceable at any corner radiator shop was the important factor since my car is "a driver".