I was looking to see if they anneal the brass; maybe the process of removing the solder heats it enough for that, or maybe the brass used in this application do

I was looking to see if they anneal the brass; maybe the process of removing the solder heats it enough for that, or maybe the brass used in this application doesn't require it? I'm restoring a 25 year old car, and discovered that new heater cores for it are no longer available. Both my original and the used spare I got were crushed on the tube ends (from people using vice grips to remove stuck hoses). I never had much luck reshaping aluminum or brass, but I had recently read about the process of annealing (which restores plasticity to a work-hardened metal piece) so decided to give it a try. (As for how someone can be in the habit of attempting to reshape metal and NOT know what annealing was: such is the life of a self-taught DIYer.) I used propane with a turbo-torch tip to heat the ends of the brass tubes cherry red, and let them cool. Then, in a process very similar to page 2 on the linked website, I used an internal mandrel (a thick steel pin) and gentle taps with a flat hammer to reshape it. It was amazing to see the capital letter "B" shaped crushed tube ends become round again. The first few strikes move the metal easily; after that each tap makes the metal harder. I could fix any mistakes by re-annealing and starting over.