Best Water Neck/Tstat Housing for a 454

[stan1688]

The 454 in my truck has some sort of aftermarket water neck on it and it's leaking coolant out from under it.

Is there a better aftermarket water neck? Or am I better off trying to find a factory one?

Should I replace the thermostat while I'm there? The motor has a lot of miles on it and I'm going to replace it sometime, so I don't want to put a lot of money into it.

 

[454Sub]

I would find some sand paper and put it on a table, find a way to hold it down somehow, and run the t-stat cover over it till it smooths it out, then RTV both sides of the gasket. Save you a few bucks and it will work.

If its an o-ring like mine, just coat the o-ring like you do an oil filter ring with rtv and then tighten it down.

 

[stan1688]

I'll have to give that a try. Thanks!

 

[454Sub]

And yes, replace the stat with a nice fail safe one. Sorry, didnt see that part.

 

[stan1688]

What temp of tstat would you recommend?

 

[dyeager535]

Always a 195*.

And I definitely second the sandpaper trick. Even had a GM one that would consistently leak (it's only 30 years old!) and with a bit of sanding, you could definitely see how uneven the surface was. Make sure the seating surface on the intake is in good shape too though., and all gasket material is completely scraped off.

 

[454Sub]

And to do the intake you can you a small mud sander for drywall or even a scrap 2x4 with the paper nailed on the sides to get a small "square enough" surface like the table is acting as.

And run the 195* unless your building a hotter motor that needs it.

 

[ryoken]

I prefer a flat file for milling gasket surfaces myself..

 

[blazer74]

I tried one of those failsafe thermostats in my 97 4cyl ranger and it took forever to get heat in the winter, put the original style back in and quick heat.

Maybe just bad luck maybe I don't know.

 

[badmix]

I replaced my cheezy chrome (previous owner equiped) housing that was leaking at the seam up top with a nice Cast Iron one from Napa. Works great and I ran a file on the bottom like suggest to make sure it was all squared.

 

[big dan]

I vote for find a stock one or a stock replacement from a local auto parts store like badmix got from napa.

Never had good luck with chrome anything sealing. Sanding the surface and using rtv helps but I prefer stock pieces for reliability.

Oh, and I don't ever use a gasket, just clean both surfaces very well and use a thin layer of rtv. Never have any leaks.

 

[stan1688]

Cool. Thanks everyone.

 

[ryoken]

keep in mind.. it's the cr#ppy made surface on a chrome one that makes em leak... any housing is fine if you mill it flat.. put it in a vice and drag a flat file across it and it'll seal fine..

that said, chromes ghey......

but you can spend good coin and also get very, very nice aftermarket billet units... an expenditure I've never splurged on personally.. but nice pieces none the less...