Dohhh... found teh water leak on my hotrod

[DJ_Critterus]

Man, that thing looked like Old Faithful driving home last night. I thought it was the new hose that maybe wasn't tight enough. Nope.

That cheap ass chrome thermostat housing is cracked in the dead center of it on top. HTF does that happen? I've never once seen them break like that.

[Bucwheat]

Glad you found it,made in China I'll bet.

[DJ_Critterus]

Glad you found it,made in China I'll bet.

Made in China, sold at Autozone *rolleyes* I hate chrome stuff anyway and plan to get rid of all of it this winter via the sandblast/powder coat method.

[Sea Six]

I bought a '76 with a ton of that chrome crap all over the engine. By the time I got te last of that absurd stuff out of there, a lot of problems disappeared.

[DJ_Critterus]

I bought a '76 with a ton of that chrome crap all over the engine. By the time I got te last of that absurd stuff out of there, a lot of problems disappeared.

It really is cheap SHIT. I'll buy the more durable stuff and have it powder coated.

[Kevin_73]

Does it have an aluminum intake?

If so, get a good quality aluminum thermostat housing. I think the cheap cast iron ones (even if they are chromed) can sometimes act as an anode and corrode much quicker than any other component in the cooling system. Then you also have different expansion rates between it and the aluminum intake.

This is the one I used when I built my 383:
Billet Specialties Thermostat Housings 90220 - SummitRacing.com (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bsp-90220/media/images/make/chevrolet)

[DJ_Critterus]

Does it have an aluminum intake?

If so, get a good quality aluminum thermostat housing. I think the cheap cast iron ones (even if they are chromed) can sometimes act as an anode and corrode much quicker than any other component in the cooling system. Then you also have different expansion rates between it and the aluminum intake.

This is the one I used when I built my 383:
Billet Specialties Thermostat Housings 90220 - SummitRacing.com (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bsp-90220/media/images/make/chevrolet)



Thanks.


I got it fixed. Used a stock T-stat housing for that year block. That chrome piece of shit was cracked all the way down the neck :willy:

[onedef92]

Made in China, sold at Autozone *rolleyes* I hate chrome stuff anyway and plan to get rid of all of it this winter via the sandblast/powder coat method.

If you put your ear close to it, Deej, I'll bet you could hear the steam squealing under pressure, "ah so, mofo!" :lol:

[OddBall]

be honest...you seated it with a hammer didn't you

[onedef92]

be honest...you seated it with a hammer didn't you

With Chinese gasket material.

[OddBall]

With Chinese gasket material.

probably didn't rotate the hoses either

[VatorMan]

It really is cheap SHIT. I'll buy the more durable stuff and have it powder coated.

Watch the powdercoating. One of my racing buddies powdercoated his wheels and they ended up breaking WHILE ON THE TRACK.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8437/7951970808_fb2ea6f877.jpg

A word of caution regarding the powder coating of aluminum.

Forged alloy wheels are desirable because they are known to be both strong and lightweight. To achieve these characteristics, they are typically manufactured from 6061-T6 grade aluminum. At some time during the manufacturing process this alloy must undergo a two-step thermal process in order for it to attain the desired mechanical properties, which include high strength and resistance to fatigue. These thermal processing or heat treating steps are known as solution treatment (985°F) and artificial aging (350°F). With forged 6061 aluminum, the artificial aging step requires the material to be held at 350°F for about 8 hours.

The majority of powder coating materials require a cure temperature ranging from 300 to 400°F with a cure time of about 1 hour. Since this overlaps the temperature of the artificial aging step, the powder coating process has the potential to "overage" the aluminum causing embrittlement and reduced fatigue life.

Recent advances in powder coating compounds have brought about lower cure temperatures of 250°F. These new powder coating compounds are more desirable, since they do not impact the prior thermal processing steps for heat treatable alloys such as 6061-T6 aluminum.

When considering powder coating of heat treatable aluminum alloys (6000 and 7000 series), it is always advisable to confirm that the temperature of the part will not exceed 300°F. Ignoring this fact may result in a sudden and unexpected failure of a critical component. A critical failure in a forged alloy wheel could ruin not just one, but possibly the rest of your days.

Before allowing someone to powder coat your forged aluminum wheels, ask them to use a lower cure temperature (250°F) compound and to maintain the temperature below 300°F at all times while they are processing your wheels.

Additional reading: Powder Coating (http://my.execpc.com/~davewrit/Powder.html)

[DJ_Critterus]

be honest...you seated it with a hammer didn't you

With Chinese gasket material.

probably didn't rotate the hoses either

You know it :smash:

Watch the powdercoating. One of my racing buddies powdercoated his wheels and they ended up breaking WHILE ON THE TRACK.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8437/7951970808_fb2ea6f877.jpg

The wheels are the only things I'm not powder coating, but I'm also not racing it or putting it on the track ;)