Thermostat housing backing plate

Pablo94SC

Registered User
I know many of you, like me, have a thermostat housing that seems to warp and leak just by looking at the damn thing. So I got on the horn with Charles over at MP and asked what he thought about making a plate that can be welded onto the housing to stiffen it up. He doesn't have a price yet, but I wanted to get some feelers out to gauge interest in a product like this.

Let me know what you guys think and who's in.

People who have shown interest so far -

Pablo94sc
rzimmerl
Jeff Bratton
RedCoupe92
oSCar3.8
Surgin (1 or 2)
seawalkersee
90MN12
95 XR7
nliberto@powder
Pat
Victor (5)
TSC89
Tony8470
XR7 Dave (5)
Sampo
Duffy Floyd (3)
Kurt K
90blkbrd
Regul8r (2)
Bowez
Akurei14
nmcbchief
96SCbird

We've reached 35 units guys!! :cool:

Let's keep adding to this list! The more we make, the more likely we'll get them cheaper or have more made in the future!

PS: Charles would need a housing as a template, so if you have an extra one that can be used as a template, let us know!
 
Last edited:
Ryan,

Thanks! Hopefully this will get enough support so we can get these made.

I would be worried about it warping with the heat of welding.

I don't see that being a problem if the person doing the welding isn't a complete noob. Exhaust pipes are a lot thinner than 1/4" steel too. Besides, Ricardo had one made and it's working well.

Charles said he needs about 30 people involved to make this work, so come on folks. You know you need one! :D
 
we definitely need more people interested in this. Come on guys, you know you want one of these to put on your housing for the next time you change your thermostat. :)
 
Chances are whoever you are going to get to weld the plate without warping or creating a pinhole leak will be able to make the plate for you as well. Exhaust welds leak all the time. Maybe you can get charles to do an exchange type of setup.
 
If it was that easy or that cheap, i would already have had one made. All the machine shops I spoke quoted a starting price of around $150 for a one off piece like this, if they even had time to make it. Most of that cost is in creating a program for the mill. That's why I contacted Charles about a group buy. New housings aren't available, and even if they were they would still be prone to warping due to the thin metal used. This should readily solve the problem. As for leaking, a welder with any skill shouldn't have a problem.
 
i've been without internet for the part few days, but I spoke with Charles and he's saying the part would be about $20 if we had 30 people involved. I'd say with fudge factor, the most it would be is about $30.
 
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Thats all I got. ;)
 
These plates should not require any milling. These should be able to be just laser cut then tig welded on.
 
Dont mean to jump in but this kind of stuff is what I do. I run a job shop up here and have made one just like pictured. The only difference is I blanchard ground the mounting surface to make sure it was perfectly flat for mounting. I already have a similar milling program and can makle them if needed but if you want them cut and ground, I dont do grinding and they charged me and extra 20 bucks just for that. I will make the part complete for 45 if you can get an order of 25+ together. I would suggest .375 plate but I will make what ever you want. If you want them unground, 25 is a good price but I wouldnt suggest it.

Dont worry about the welding, any good welder can do it and it wont warp. I used a tig and didnt have a problem. Only ran it on a dyno do far for any hour or so but no leaks.
 
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