New 13BT upper thermostat housing 16331-58030 interest? (2 Viewers)

[Jammo3]

I know it's been a little while, just trying to bump this thread. Any progress? Mine looks like it's was pulled from the Titanic . Was thinking if you got it 3D scanned you could possibly send out the scan data and let people 3D print it in aluminium

 

[Flynn]

I've been just slammed at work. The base fit is really good. I just need to finish the merge top and base and have a plastic model printed to test fit before I can have a functional one printed/machined. I was thinking of giving some of the newer temperature resistance plastic materials a try ($$-$$$) but a machined aluminum one would be the safest ($$$) though, unfortunately most expensive. I think the 3D printed aluminum can be a little porous but the materials are improving monthly it seems.

I just moved into a new house with a good shop space so I'm looking to tackle this and a few other projects over the next couple of months.

 

[Jammo3]

True aluminium would be the safest and I think would be the most popular option. Could even see when the CAD mould comes out and lines up perfectly if any places do custom aluminium casting. Lots of options but gotta find a reasonably priced path to take i guess. Thanks for the update hope it goes well

 

[stayalert]

Cool! If you're making or keeping a list of people interested....Add me to it!

 

[badusmaximus]

Mine seems to be in good shape- but it seems like a weak point for 13bt's no matter what. If there's a production run- mark me interested.

 

[Evan Williams]

So my thermostat housing, both upper and lower, was corroded all to hell. Thankfully the lower housing is still available (though you will need a plug 90341-12006 for an extra hole), the upper...not so much and mine does not have a long life ahead of it.

Rather than kludging together a solution, I got a bug up my ass and decided to see if I could make a CAD design that I could 3D print or have produced. 3D printing would be cheaper for a couple of pieces, but the thermal resilience of the part makes that a little more difficult.

I've made the CAD model. I had the base printed and am waiting to receive it to test fit it to my old lower housing. Once I've made sure I have the base dimensions correct I'll do a complete prototype unit (will need to have small hose outlets tapped for NPT-ends of hose barbs).

These are the options I came up with:

• 3D printed plastic - ~$50-150/pc depending on volume
  • There are some ABS variants that can easily handle the heat (some new t-stat housings are all ABS plastic now) but the only ones I've found available for 3D printing have a melting point of 112 C which means it would be really close to failure if you ever overheated a little - not a safety margin I'm super comfortable with. I haven't reached out to any printing companies yet to see if they have any new materials not listed in their auto-quote feature but will in the future.
  • Probably the best option if it winds up just being me or a few others and we can find a good heat tolerant material.
• 3D printed aluminum or stainless - ~$200-400/pc (Al) to over $1000 (SS)
  • Obviously cost prohibitive.
  • At this price CNC/billet machining is probably a better option I have not generated any quotes yet.
• Injection mold - Probably the cheapest (by far) if there's a large enough group of people interested. I found low volume runs in the 25 pcs range, but I haven't generated a quote yet.
• CNC/Billet - $$$ not sure how much though. Haven't quoted this one.

It's probably also worth checking to see if a local company would do a small run CNC or injection mold but I'm waiting until I know I have the design down and to see if there's anyone else interested to do that.

I'm sure there's probably an easy fix I missed when I was looking up solutions to my corroded upper housing, but this was a fun way to learn CAD and photogrammetry. Also, I've always been interested in its application for hard-to-find parts and with more and more pieces falling off the radar we may need to rely more on this technology to keep our rigs running and leak proof in the future.

So, if you're still reading, is there any interest in doing a group buy of this? Assuming I can get a working prototype of course.

Also I attached the 3D model I used to get the angles/positioning of water outlets right mostly because it looked cool and I was proud of myself for even getting that generated.

View attachment 1835408

Hi Im hunting high and low for this part. Am interested in where you are at with this .. Evan

 

[Evan Williams]

I've been just slammed at work. The base fit is really good. I just need to finish the merge top and base and have a plastic model printed to test fit before I can have a functional one printed/machined. I was thinking of giving some of the newer temperature resistance plastic materials a try ($$-$$$) but a machined aluminum one would be the safest ($$$) though, unfortunately most expensive. I think the 3D printed aluminum can be a little porous but the materials are improving monthly it seems.

I just moved into a new house with a good shop space so I'm looking to tackle this and a few other projects over the next couple of months.zealand

View attachment 2380786

Hi Im very interested in this - did you progress this . look forward to hearing from you Evan - New Zealand

 

[Evan Williams]

Hi Thanks for your reply. My contact number is +64 21 442 685 ( New Zealand)
Very interested

 

[Flynn]

That project got put on the back burner (utter chaos for me the last year or two and an engine rebuild to boot) but I hope to finish it this winter because mine is on its last legs.

The limiting factor is printing materials. When I first started there weren’t any reasonably priced options that could handle the temperature and coolant.

I need to look again, that field is advancing so quickly. Once I print a dummy full version (the base is good, just dialing in the top and turbo line areas) then I can get price estimates for a small run.

There’s always the billet option but that’s stupidly expensive.

 

[FJBen]

How much easier is it to make one without the turbo inlet/outlet? Personally I don't think that turbo even needs the water cooling. but might make the whole think a bit easier to deal with.

 

[pradoblivious]

Also interested

 

[Flynn]

I put a GTurbo unit on mine and they told me it was up to me if I used the water cooling or not. I'm not sure if the internals of their unit are in any way more heat tolerant than the original so I'm not sure how applicable that advice is to a stock CT26.

If you don't need the water cooling feature then a regular 3B thermostat cover works just fine...though you do lose the mount point for a vacuum line crossover.

 

[Evan Williams]

Hi Im hunting high and low for this part. Am interested in where you are at with this .. Evan

Hi just a followup on this - have you made any progress on making this part.

 

[Flynn]

Little to none
I moved from TX to OR this winter so everything got upended. My original t-stat housing is in my moving pod that still hasn't been delivered. I know I've got the base dimensions correct but I haven't been able to go back and verify my dimensions are correct for the top of the housing. I'm not even sure what I made would work for a rad cap.

Here's the obj file if anyone wants to give a it a go. I'm learning as I go so it's probably not great but at least a start.

I just ask that you post updates here too if you move forward with this.

 

[BarnFab]

I quoted on one of these out of billet and it was around the $600 mark. I thought that was a bit high but now I actually need one I am thinking it may have to do.

What do people think ? To many $$$ ?

 

[Flynn]

That's better than when I had the rudimentary cad file above quoted.

FWIW - I put a Gturbo on mine and use a 3B thermostat housing with no coolant ports (based on advice from Gturbo). I don't know if the factory turbos need the coolant flow or not, but after 10,000 or so miles the grunter I have on there now doesn't seem any worse for the wear.

 

[Flynn]

I'm happy to share my old 13BT thermostat housing if you need a model for the billet. It's got some thin walls so I wouldn't run it, but it works excellently for dimensions.

 

[The Machinist]

I quoted on one of these out of billet and it was around the $600 mark. I thought that was a bit high but now I actually need one I am thinking it may have to do.

What do people think ? To many $$$ ?

If it's just 1 piece, that's not bad price wise. All the work goes in upfront with CNC machining, you're pretty much paying for all the engineering work on the first one and labor and materials on the remainder.

Once all the programming is done and fixturing is figured out, consecutive parts get progressively cheaper.

 

[BarnFab]

I'm happy to share my old 13BT thermostat housing if you need a model for the billet. It's got some thin walls so I wouldn't run it, but it works excellently for dimensions.

That would be cool if you have one I will send you a message

If it's just 1 piece, that's not bad price wise. All the work goes in upfront with CNC machining, you're pretty much paying for all the engineering work on the first one and labor and materials on the remainder.

Once all the programming is done and fixturing is figured out, consecutive parts get progressively cheaper.

Yeah issue with these is that I doubt volume will ever be there to do a production run. If there is enough interest then for sure will get cheaper .

 

[haboo]

That would be cool if you have one I will send you a message



Yeah issue with these is that I doubt volume will ever be there to do a production run. If there is enough interest then for sure will get cheaper .

Really happy to find this post!, It seems a major problem in the 13BT, I am in for the upper part with you guys. Appreciate this great effort!