i dont know if anybody has been following this thread but here is a link to the whole story of why the plastic S5 t stat housings suck and need to be upgraded.....cheap too.
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...68#post7135368
he said he could do them for about $50
$60 with the optional bung for heater core hose, just in case you want to run a universal style(cheaper) radiator.
these will be painted(your choice) before they are shipped.

 

ok, due to the cost of the coating of the housings we will only paint in aluminum for now......the two coat process we will be using will not crack or peel, it is supposed to bond with the metal kind of like powder coating via a very expensive primer and the top coat withstands temps of 1400 degrees. I would love for people to pm me if interested, as we will make these as people want them.

 

Mazdatrix makes aluminum ones already?

S4 FTW.....

 

Plus the plastic one they sell will last another 15-20yrs. What your offering is cheaper than a new unit though, good luck.

 

cheaper and not plastic....mazdatrix is expensive and doesnt have an option to place a bung in the housing for the heater core.

 

Mazdatrix wants $70 for the plastic one! w/ no bung this sounds like a good idea to me.

 

yea, ive heard of the plastic ones cracking bc of overtightening and overheating. i just thought why not upgrade instead of buying another plastic one?

 

The plastic ones fail because they're 16-18 years old. A new one will likely last just as long, so while you may think the aluminium one is an upgrade, in reality there's no benefit other than looking a little nicer.

 

The metal replacement (be it the OP's or Mazdatrix's) is unlikely to split- even after 15 years- so I would consider it an upgrade, albeit a minor one.

 

I'm not disagreeing, but realistically the whole issue of failure is a moot point because the car is not likely to last as long as a plastic replacement. If I needed one I'd probably but the aluminium one just because they look nicer, but I wouldn't be kidding myself into thinking I'd made the car more reliable.

BTW, about the "optional bung for heater core hose, just in case you want to run a universal style radiator", the heater return should be on the bottom connection, not the top one.

 

Yeah, I wondered about that too.

 

a ton of v8 guys run theirs off the t stat housing i thought maybe i would do the same...it doesnt make any difference so why does it matter where the source of heated water comes from?

 

The heater's water comes from the hose on the side of the rear plate. The hose on the radiator is the return. Putting it on the other side of the radiator would result in a lower pressure difference across the heater core and hence less flow. I guess that may not bother some people.

 

oh ok, well then i guess it's up to the individual then.