Thermostat Housing

[Riptide]

What material is this thing made of? Aluminum? Some type of steel?

I am asking because I may need to drill one of the two bolt holes out and make them a bit larger. I realize I can't make it much larger but I'm curious what this material is so I know what I'm getting into.

3.0 V6 1994

 

[ThreePointO]

See if a magnet will stick to the housing... if not then it's mostly likely made out of aluminum.

 

[dmch82bl8]

A few years back I twisted off one of the thermostat housing bolts, and it was way too short to grab with vice grips, etc. and I ended up having to drill it out and tap new threads. I ended up replacing the original bolts with Stainless Steel, and have had no problems since.

 

[Geeshik]

My '93 3.0 has an aluminum thermostat housing; same as the upper and lower intake. I'm not sure about a '94 3.0. My '94 2.3 Liter had a steel or some other alloy; it looked almost like it was brass, but maybe it was brazed. It was thin though, so it wouldn't have been an issue to drill it. If it is thicker looking, it is probably cast aluminum.

Be careful though with a drill in cast aluminum. It is very brittle and could break if you apply too much pressure, or don't drill slowly.

 

[Beef52751]

probally aluminium