thermostat housing question

[jamison42166]

Forgive my Newbie dumb question but do you have to drain all of the radiator fluid out before swapping a thermostat housing out? or can you just drain it down slightly ? ive got one of the POS chrome steel ones connected to a cool flex hose and it has the typical leaking syndrome. I got a new alunimum one thinking that it would expand contract more evenly with the alunimum intake.

 

[D.Hearne]

The chromed steel leaks cause the chrome is too slick for the gasket to get a seal. Anyway, yea, you've just got to drain down a bit past the level of the housing to change it.

 

[Tim65GT]

I also had a small leak after installing a chromed housing. It looked great, but I had to remove it and I used a belt sander to smooth the mounting surface. I cleaned the intake mounting surface good and re-installed it with a new gasket and Permatex Ultra-Black. So far, no leaks.

 

[Calponycarsmike]

Those overseas chrome bits always need more finishing, there is a cool gasket in a can called 1 min gasket works great on uneven or poorly cast products like that. You will be happier with the aluminum neck anyways.

 

[jamison42166]

thanks for the advice... I tok the alunimum housing and hit it with a dremel to polish it so it has a bit of shine just not where it attaches to anything. Its not as showy but function over form is more important to me. ill probably put it in this weekend it will give me a nice change of pace from studying.