Anybody know anything about the rotorsports AST? Its a little cheaper than the Pettit, tiny bit cheaper than the pettit from rx7store, but most importantly its powdercoated black. I just bought an AST off ebay that was supposed to be new but turned out to be well used and leaking at the joint where the neck meets the canister (wouldn't have thought they would leak).

So I don't want to buy another POS, but I always like the idea of the powdercoated black AST.

And in case anybody knows him, the guy who sold it to me was Brian Richards, I've contacted him and will next contact paypal and ebay to try to get my money back.

Oh, and I did search already, "rotorsports ast" turned up nothing useful.

 

i believe as long as its all metal no matter what color its powdercoated, it shouldnt leak or crack like the stock plastic one. the whole point of it being metal is so it wont crack or leak on you. so id say go for it
i got the pettit one then after a few hours a used one on the forums popped up for 100

 

brian richards is one of the old owners of M2 performance, unless the 2 guys have the same name.

the rotorsports guys are standup dudes, I am sure their AST will be top notch

 

Thats what I would've thought, until I bought this used one for $90 and it turns out that an aluminum AST can leak. Its barely noticeable, but once the car heats up bubbles start forming around the joint between the neck and the canister. Which leads me to believe that a poor welding job leaves the aluminum ASTs as vulnerable to leaking as the stock plastic one.

 

Interesting about the M2 performance link, were they in granite bay, ca by any chance? For all I know whoever it was will take responsibility and refund my money, I just noticed the problem today and sent him email.

 

yeah, they were out of cali. interesting indeed......

 

They are located in Concord CA (Bay area), Industrial park. My folks live in the next town over & I looked them up one weekend. They were closed, but I could look through the window. That was a couple of years ago.

 

Are you certain that it isn't leaking at the neck/cap seal? You might just need a new cap (or wipe off any junk that might prevent a good seal, or make sure the tabs on the cap aren't bent).

Aluminum radiator necks wear out after a while, especially the thin stamped ones. It might just be worn out.

-Max

 

I'm pretty sure, I wiped it down really well so there was no fluid on the AST from the install. After letting the car get warm enough so that the fans turn on you can see and smell little bubbles coming out of the bottom of the neck where it joins the canister. It doesn't let alot of coolant out yet, but I expect it to get worse and eventually dump all my coolant. Ironically that was the whole problem I was trying to avoid in the first place.

 

Jayk

Porosity in AL welds is not unusual. Sometimes it doesn't show up till well after it was welded.

There's got to be someone around you (radiator or welding shop) that can re-weld that and check it for leakage. Stuff like that is done all the time for racecars.

 

The original seller has agreed to take the ast back and refund the money, in the meantime I've ordered the rotorsports ast. Seem like cool guys on the phone, apparently they'll be at VIR mid-june so I hope to stop by and talk to them a little.

 

I went on rotorsport's site to look at the AST, but no picture was available, does anyone have a picture of their AST?

 

The cap on my Pettit one practically blew up. I dont know what happened but it just sprayed every ounce of coolant (not really) all over the engine bay. I heard it clicking wildly and then saw the steam. My temps shot up almost instantly after. and floated to a stop. DOnt know if I ate the motor. Wont know till I get back to FL in 2007! Itll be dead anyway from sitting there for so long.

 

I just got the rotorsports AST, it actually looks a little sturdier than the pettit one that I had. The joint where the neck joins the cannister has more reinforcement around it, which ironically is where the old one was leaking. I can try taking some pics if anybody is interested, although I only have a cheap camera phone and another cheap digital cam.

 

yes post a pic if you can please .. imagegator.com (if you need a place to host your pic)

 

I'll give it a try, not the best pictures, but you'll get the idea.

 

You can see where the neck meets the can there is an extra ring that my pettit didn't have, I also like the barbed nipple on the neck.