Quote:
Originally Posted by stepside66
I just went and bought a nice billet aluminum thermo housing for 40 bucks it swivels HOPEFULLY mine dont get eaten up I had my intake powder coated but I am through with those cheap ass MR Gasket ones they arent worth the 9 dollars
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This may hurt a little; a lot of the so called 'billet' thermostat housings (and other items) are nothing more than polished castings. An easy way to tell is look inside of it, should be a machined finish. Also, if the hose neck part is one smooth piece all the way down to where it meets the swivel base (as yours appears to be), you've been had. The true billet housings are usually 3 pieces; the base that bolts to the manifold, the t-stat tower, and then the actual hose neck. The hose neck is usually threaded into the tower piece, and you can see distinct machine markings around the joint. The reason for this is that it is a whole lot easier to machine straight parts and thread them together than it is to machine a one piece part that has an angle, or changes direction. I bought one of those 'billet' polished housings, and was pissed when I saw white spots inside it. Those white spots were corrosion that was already eating it up. Cheap cast aluminum is nasty stuff. A good, real billet unit should be machined out of marine grade aluminum like 6061, and will probly be at least $80. Sorry for the long one, this is another sore spot!