Thermostat housing - radiator hose seal

[luxes]

I am rehabbing some of my radiator hoses and when I pulled the hose off the thermostat housing there was a bunch of "sealant" and after sealant removal exposed the pock marked surface you can see in the foto. I am not really a fan of sealant here (it was working albeit weeping a bit during the 40K miles of my ownership).

Is this corrosion, poor casting or ham fisted mechanic?

So, what do you folks think I should do here? how about doubling up on the clamps?

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Scott

 

[IdahoDoug]

I've dealt with this a couple times over the decades, including the 80 - same pipe. Coolant gets under there and goes acidic (or base?) despite changing the coolant properly. Fix it by cleaning it thoroughly, degreasing, and laying a thin coat of JB Weld epoxy, which is actually very high grade epoxy despite it's sometimes redneck image. Once cured, sand it smooth for a nice sealing surface. Mine's got 100k on it like that since I did this, with no issues. It's a pretty pedestrian and permanent fix. Don't be tempted to use a sealant when you put on the NEW hose (don't reuse the old - it's been damaged by the same PH issue) - just use a quality clamp

 

[luxes]

IdahoDoug thanks, I have a mind just to swap it out............

 

[DIRTBIKEUSA]

Emory cloth and elbow grease. Polish it up and it is reusable.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Dirtbike - respectfully disagree. Those pits are deep and your strategy will have the pits go right through the metal and begin leaking sooner than you'd think. Simply filling them with an inert substance designed for permanent life underwater, etc will stop it in its tracks. OP if you replace it, hang on to this one as these will be NLA some day and that's totally reusable. Tx

Doug