just to share with fellow forum members,an experience.last year had the L-48 rebuilt,eliminated the butterfly exhaust valve,so i didn't need one of the thermo switches on the goose neck,the other one i mounted on the performer manifold next to the goose neck.i thought a chrome goose neck would look nice,so i go to O'Reilly's and get a Mr Gasket goose neck,all chrome,made in china. i drive it about 6 months it starts leaking,so i take it off and find the neck is being ate from the inside out!!!!.so i take it to O'Reilly's and the guy says i've got acid in my system,cuz antifreeze is old,needs to be changed. i tell him new antifreeze,6 months old,rebuilt engine. OH!! he says engine rebuilders left acid in the water jack,flush sytem immediately because the acid is eating up all the cooling components!!! i say BS,give me a different goose neck,they don't have anything except what i've got and the other guy says maybe i just got a bad one.so i put it on,vette basically sits thru the winter, i drive it 6 months and last saturday,coming home from my mom's.i smell,"hot,sweet & sticky",i get home and there's a hole in the top of the goose neck!! well O'Reilly's wouldn't give me my $$$ back or give me another part,(not that i wanted one),so i was pissed,went to Autozone,bought a regular iron goose neck made in china and painted it with ceramic silver paint. just beware that the chrome goose neck Mr Gasket sells,is also sold under various other brand names,autozone had it too,but differnet label and name,same part. when i was at O"Reilly's,another customer and i were standing in line,he tells me he's got a 56 chevy sedan he's restored and he never had any luck with chrome goose necks either!!

 

You're dead-on right there. Mine wouldn't keep the hose attached. I switched to a billet aluminum unit. Pricey, but now I don't worry about it rusting or the hose sliding off!

 

a goose neck... is the thermostat housing? or the radiator hose connector thingie (specific i am :jester )

Just wondering what you guys are talking about, i saw chrome and came running

ZD

 

I have a chrome thermostat housing, water outlet, gooseneck (whatever) on my 66 327, and it has been there since about 1981. I have changed the antifreeze *maybe* 3 times in that time frame. It still looks new, and is not eaten away. Also, it is not the o-ring type.

This is definitely not my area of expertise, but another forum member pointed out that if you have your engine grounded in a certain way, the coolant causes an interaction between the iron/steel and the aluminum... similar to the sacrificial rods in electric water heaters... and the aluminum is eaten away. This affects all aluminum on the engine, not just the water outlet. Maybe you have this problem?

Again- not my area of expertise... another forum member was way more educated on this topic than I am.
Just a guess.

 

A goose neck is the thing that holds the handle bars on the bicycle to the forks. I had a doulble goose neck on mine.
It was chrome but didn't leak any water,I left my bike out in the rain and the handle bars filled up with water and then they leaked,and they were chrome!!!

 

O'Reilly's sucks. Nuff' said.

Jim

 

H-m-m-m-m-m-m-m

I've had a Mr. Gasket chrome T-stat housing on my Z28 for the past 1 1/2 years. No problems so far. Actually bought an identical housing for my Vette but haven't installed it yet. H-m-m-m-m-m. Makes me thing. What kind of antifreeze are you using, and do you add anything like Water Wetter.

 

I wouldn't use Mr. Gasket crap on my lawn mower!! I've had miserable experiences with just about everything they make. I've had their screw in rocker studs break (count 'em two of 'em, at different times, leaving me stranded both times) because they were over hardened, and had a number of gaskets that weren't even close to fitting (holes were off location). Their quality control is for crap, and their materials and designs suck. I don't just walk away from their products--I RUN!!

Unfortunately, Mr. Gasket has bought up a lot of other once reputable aftermarket companies and applied the same operating principles to turn them to crap too. The only appeal that I can see that they possibly have is the cheap price, but beware, it could cost a lot more money in the long run because you'll have to fix it twice.

 

I use felpro for gaskets and summit has the chrome and edlebrock the other parts... plus if you pop the hood and have mr. gasket written every where you kinda get laughed at :p:

ZD

 

Can't say that I would use them for any sort of bolt, etc. If I buy a "Mr. Gasket" anything, it's usually for something that can't cause any serious damage. i.e. air filter (this was a temporary fix when I installed my Edelbrock carb), PCV breather (they're the only ones I've found that make a chrome breather with a 3/4" neck. GM doesn't even seem to make them), and the T-stat housing (wanted to get rid of the original housing with thermal switch and a touch of chrome seemed nice). Now I'm double thinking the T-stat housing but like I said, the one I've had on my Z28 has been fine for 1 1/2 years. I'd still like to know what kind of antifreeze and if he's running anything else in his water.

P.S. I use Moroso rubber on metal frame valve cover gaskets and Fel Pro elsewhere. The only place I got Mr. Gasket showing is on the PVC breather and beleive me, I'd PREFER not.


[Modified by 79MakoL82, 11:17 AM 11/6/2001]

 

I have seen cooling systems that both eat non-ferrous metals and /or rust. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for it, some systems just do it. I have had this electrolosis problem with my BOSS 302 since I got it in '74. Luckily I caught it right away. The fix for me was to install a 'zinc' in the radiator tank, like the ones they put on outdrives on boats. I just cut it down and dropped it in. Now it just eats up the 'zinc' and leaves the aluminum intake and front cover alone.

Hans

 

Unless I missed reading it in the above posts, distilled water is supposed to be used with the anitfreeze in a mixed materials engine..cast iron / aluminum / steel. Regular tap water really promotes the electrolosis potentials.

 

That's what I use. I just buy a couple gallons at the grocery store...

Hans

 

Thanks for the heads up Gary. I too use distilled water in my car, but will now keep an eye on the "goose neck" . :)

 

I use distilled water. Hopefully that is why I haven't had any problems, but I'll keep an eye on it.

 

to clarify or answer ?'s from replies to my posts,i use regular antifreeze with tap water,50-50 mix,more on that later,no water wetter,no need for additives. i run a 180 deg stat and that's were it runs,unless very warm outside,may climb to 190 degrees.
i used to use distilled water,but a friend of mine(certified mech) advised me to save my money(i know we're not talking big $$$ here) and flush the system and use new anti-freeze every year,2 years maximum.
who's got ground straps on their engine??? i don't and haven't seen a vette with them,unless they're in some hidden area.maybe my engine is not grounded properly.
BTW, the mr gasket goose neck is not aluminum,it's cheap "pot" metal,thin to boot. it looked good and sealed fine,it was just a member of the NFL (not for long) club.

 

The ground strap on the engine goes from the motor mount horn on the passenger side of the frame to the engine block by the motor mount on that side. Your car has one, or at least needs one if it doesn't have it.

 

I've been working on cars in general since about 1964/65. I rebuilt my first engine in 1965, it was a 1959 Ford. It had a ground strap. Every engine that I have pulled since then also had a ground strap in some way, shape, or form. On my own Silverado, the negative battery cable doesn't even go to the frame- it goes to the alternator bracket. The engine has a "ground" strap on the back, from a top trans/engine bolt to the frame. Engine ground strapping is very common- bottom line is, the negative terminal of the battery needs to connect solidly with a large capacity conductor, both to the engine and to the frame. If your Vette is missing this/these connections, then it has been Bubba-ized by a former owner.

Again- no expert in this arena, but I believe someone else said a lack of proper grounding can contribute to corrosion.

I also use tap water. I know distilled is the perfect, correct thing to do, but tap water has sufficed so far.
I do a lot of road trips and distilled water is not always available when I need a fix... so using distilled water for me would be a waste of time since I'm ultimately going to be forced to top-off with tap water eventually. Based on experience with my "driver" cars (not my 66), changing out the coolant every 2 years should be adequate for corrosion resistance. However, mineral content/buildup may be a different story. Distilled water is probably the only solution for that problem. I guess it would depend on the actual content of your tap water.

 

Quick ?? Does anyone know what the PH of a 50-50 mix should be?
gary

 

Its like all the Harley guys say, "Chrome won't get you home." :D