I don't know if mine is original or not. I was wondering which path to take... go with a 4 core copper or an aluminum one. Geez, the aluminum ones are $500 and the copper's are $200. That's alot of cash... and I don't know if it's worth it. I live in Wisconsin too... not Zona.
If you take your radiator cap off and look inside with a flashlight you can count the rows (tubes).
most alum radiators have two rows but their rows are wide, equivilent to a regular radiator with a 4 row.
I think you're right, you might not need to spend all that money upgrading your cooling system if you dont see blistering hot summers.
how hot does your car run?
More rows is not better. A 3 row of the same material and fins per sq. inch at 3 inches vs. a 2 row at 3 inches... the 2 row will outperform. You will still get more surface area with a 2 row so better cooling. What you should look for instead of rows is fins per sq. inch count. That will make the biggest difference... considering the radiators are the same overall thickness.
Kevin
the aluminum pieces are worth it. i dropped the cash and bought the griffin 500 dollar radiator and added an external tranny cooler. now the car wont run over 160' no matter how hard i run it. period. i was tired of fight cooling problems. u can custom make your own crossflow aluminum radiator, but thats a little more of a hassle, u will have to make some brackets, i took the expensive, but easy bolt in route. i threw a spal thinline fan on too, since its the only one that would fit. the aluminum griffin is 4 row thickness so your fan choices become few and far between.