Aluminum Intake corrosion

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Jonnylightening

Jonnylightening

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This weekend I bought an Edelbrock Victor 340 intake. The intake itself is in super good condition. I paid less than half of what a new one is. Only big snag with it that I found is the thermostat housing has some pretty bad corrosion on the mounting surface. I took a die grinder to it in attempt to get the corrosion out. I then was going to take it to work and fill up the spots with weld and have it milled flat. Is this idea feasible? Is there another better alternative?
 
i have sealed corroded t'stat housings etc by using silicon, no gasket. it depends of course how severe the corrosion is. Sandpaper the surface to roughen it for good adhesion. Wipe clean with Lacquer thinner or similar solvent that does not leave any residue.
 
Bewy said:
i have sealed corroded t'stat housings etc by using silicon, no gasket. it depends of course how severe the corrosion is. Sandpaper the surface to roughen it for good adhesion. Wipe clean with Lacquer thinner or similar solvent that does not leave any residue.
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It was probably 1/8 deep in some spots. Im guessing they ran tap water either 50/50 or straight
 
There might be enough surrounding metal to seal.
Another option might be to clean out the holes with a dentist's pick or similar & get clean metal. Then fill the voids with JBWeld/Devcon & sand flat.
 
Bewy said:
There might be enough surrounding metal to seal.
Another option might be to clean out the holes with a dentist's pick or similar & get clean metal. Then fill the voids with JBWeld/Devcon & sand flat.
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Thought about that as well. Really a bummer because the rest of the intake is great
 
Someone with a small enough cutter on a Bridgeport could fix it right up.
 
Jonnylightening said:
This weekend I bought an Edelbrock Victor 340 intake. The intake itself is in super good condition. I paid less than half of what a new one is. Only big snag with it that I found is the thermostat housing has some pretty bad corrosion on the mounting surface. I took a die grinder to it in attempt to get the corrosion out. I then was going to take it to work and fill up the spots with weld and have it milled flat. Is this idea feasible? Is there another better alternative?
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Hey jonnylightening,

Have you considered this product? I have used it with great success ! Should work great for your situation.

14787.jpg
 
If you can weld it, and re-machine it flat, that's the way to go. Epoxy, silicone, etc... are all just temporary "fixes".
 
My bet is that they used a cast iron neck on the aluminum intake and electrolysis set in .
Just JB weld then file flat . A light coat of a good paint over it might not hurt . Then use silicon on both side of the gasket . Let it cure before running the manifold .
 
I'd bead blast the area, then JB weld or similar, file flat, then Permatex thermostat sealer to button it up.
 
I'm assuming the OP is located someplace that is extremely remote, like Mars, and that explains all the half-*** fixes. Because if he's on Earth, the only answer is to machine it flat.
 
gregcon said:
I'm assuming the OP is located someplace that is extremely remote, like Mars, and that explains all the half-*** fixes. Because if he's on Earth, the only answer is to machine it flat.
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No sir Im from earth! You know that planet where smart-asses and keyboard warriors come out to drop worthless posts.
 
They're not worthless posts...learning how to do something the half-assed way is part of learning how to do something properly.
 
gregcon said:
They're not worthless posts...learning how to do something the half-assed way is part of learning how to do something properly.
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It’s a thermostat housing seal area, highest temps it will see will slightly above the boiling point of water, the most pressure that it will see is 12 to 17 psi depending upon the radiator cap.
If it was a crank shaft main, or a block to head mating surface or an exhaust manifold, I could see the need for a robust fix that made the repair as good as the original part. But it’s not, in fact there are engines that have plastic intake manifolds,,,and laminating on some air set plastic, which is basically what the JB Weld repair would be, would be an effective way to smooth off the existing rough surface.
So Mr Greg Conn, please enlighten us concerning the need for a like new, like OE condition repair.
 
If you got a good torch with a nice rosebud tip, you could attempt to fill the voids with muggyweld sticks. The stuff they demonstrate at car shows to plug holes in tin cans. Trick is to get the base hot as hell and them let the stick melt into the base. Its easy on an AL can as its so thin, even a radiator is pretty easy with a propane torch, but thick stuff like that stat housing is gonna need a lot of localized heat and that probably needs an oxy torch to get it hot enough for the muggyweld to melt into the base. If I need to get to work monday on it. Id not hesitate to use some threadlocker on 2 studs and them some good 2 part epoxy. Get the epoxy set up and then put some wax paper on it and lightly torque your stat housing on it and let it set up for 24-36 hours. remove the stat housing, remove paper or file it flat, torque it down and rock on.
 
Why fix it properly Because? Because if you half-*** it, when you're all done, and driving down the road, you'll know its been half-assed. When you go to bed that night, it'll still be half-assed.
 
gregcon said:
Why fix it properly Because? Because if you half-*** it, when you're all done, and driving down the road, you'll know its been half-assed. When you go to bed that night, it'll still be half-assed.
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Obviously, your area of expertise.
 
Good one, putty-boy.

The very foundation of hot rodding is to improve a car; to make it better than OEM. It's not to make it worse than OEM. Using putty because you're too lazy to machine an easily machined part? That's not hot rodding. It's half-assing. You should start your own magazine...Popular Half-Assing.
 
I talked to the guy who advertises for muggy weld at the goodguys car shows. He was very nice, I bought some and practiced, and came out good on thin aluminum stuff. I didn’t have enough heat when I wanted to repair my aluminum water pump. He said bring it by next show and he would do it for me. Hell of an offer.

I would not be afraid of JB weld, I’ve done that on my old 1940’s Cletrac. Talk about rust and pitting, sealed my water neck right up.
 
Bead blast the corrosion out, fill the pitting with JB weld, file flat, seal with fluid resistant epoxy primer. Akzo Noble 10P42-NF is great stuff. MEK wont even touch it once its fully cured. Do the whole water passage inside the intake.
 
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If you still have problems sealing the housing to the manifold, I would suggest that you get a gasket from Real Gaskets Tennessee.
www.realgaskets.com (423)543-6194 and FOLLOW THEIR DIRECTIONS!
 
Welding alum is not easy unless you have experience doing it. A little too much heat, & watch the alum melt away......
If the OP doesn't have the equipment &/or experience to do it, or to have it welded & machined flat, he probably needs to PAY somebody to do it. If this is the case, might be cheaper or same money to buy a Chinese knock-off intake. Also, if there is corrosion around the stat area, there is likely to be corrosion at the cyl head interface.
 
mopardude318 said:
I talked to the guy who advertises for muggy weld at the goodguys car shows. He was very nice, I bought some and practiced, and came out good on thin aluminum stuff. I didn’t have enough heat when I wanted to repair my aluminum water pump. He said bring it by next show and he would do it for me. Hell of an offer.

I would not be afraid of JB weld, I’ve done that on my old 1940’s Cletrac. Talk about rust and pitting, sealed my water neck right up.
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That's the only way I got the stuff to fix a slanty AL intake with a crack in the heat stove. Took it to a oxy torch setup and almost got the AL to reflow over itself at that point. Its something they fail to explain while they are fixing holes in cans on stage with a propane pipe torch although the guy had a repaired boat prop on display too. If you got the heat, it flows.

As to hot rodding making a car 'better than OEM', I'd reword that to "make it faster". OEMs have 50-100K mile powertrain warranties, try getting that out of an heim joint tubular A-Arm, Mezier electric water pump or an aftermarket EFI setup.
 
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