How do I seal this coolant leak?

[bluesfella]

On the front of the 250 I6 in my truck, there's a coolant leak at the bottom of this curved piece (underneath the water neck):



It doesn't look like there's a gasket there. How do I seal this and keep it from leaking? It leaks pretty heavy right now, and the fan blows it back over the engine, so that when I stop, I get a nice puddle of oily black water. I can't park it on my driveway anymore.

Anyway, I've never seen a gasket listed for that piece, not even sure what to call it. Here's another pic for good measure:



Anybody know?

[tommys66]

If you cant find a gasket, make one. Just buy a sheet of gasket material and cut to fit. Or use high temp silicone. If you choose to use silicone, just don't tighten so much that it squeezes all the silicone out the sides. Put a solid bead all the way around, including around bolt holes, snug it up, let dry good, then tighten a little more(be easy).

[markeb01]

The easy old school way of making gaskets is to pull the part, and get it cleaned up. Place the gasket surface facing you and lay a piece of gasket material over it. Then gently tap all around the edges (inside and out) with a ball peen hammer. It will cut a perfectly fitted gasket in no time. I also learned back in the 50's if no gasket material is available, you can substitute single ply cardboard - like a cereal box, or the box a valve cover gasket comes in. It works fine as a general purpose gasket (not exhaust manifolds obviously).

[bluesfella]

OK, thanks guys!

[Martin64]

Originally Posted by markeb01

The easy old school way of making gaskets is to pull the part, and get it cleaned up. Place the gasket surface facing you and lay a piece of gasket material over it. Then gently tap all around the edges (inside and out) with a ball peen hammer. It will cut a perfectly fitted gasket in no time. I also learned back in the 50's if no gasket material is available, you can substitute single ply cardboard - like a cereal box, or the box a valve cover gasket comes in. It works fine as a general purpose gasket (not exhaust manifolds obviously).

Manilla folders work great We used those in the military for axle hub gaskets. They work great around gear oil/lube but I don't know how well they'd work around coolant.

[ol Curt]

Thanks Martin,
That's a good one to know if your in a pinch!