Custom zetec water rail

[comfortablynumb]

Hi all,
Since the pinto has given up in mk2 sons Sierra, we’ve decided to fit the zetec silver top that’s been kicking round here for a few years
As you’ll know, water rails are a common topic, and not all that cheap
It occurred to me that since the ‘stat housing is plastic, why shouldn’t it be possible to make a housing and pipe from a suitable nylon/pvc material?
Thoughts anyone?

[Dez]

I made up a steel one from scratch for a custom application a few years back. Fitted better than the aftermarket alloy ones and I think it looked better too.
I turned up a thermostat housing out of a couple of bits of plate and welded it into the pipe at the front of the head. Really wasn’t that hard to do.
I also hardlined the entire bottom ‘hose’ from water pump to rad as it needed to cross the engine bay to work with what I think was a Sierra rad. Mounted that to the sump below the pulley. Sump and pickup was also custom made in steel.

[comfortablynumb]

We’ve got the advantage that it was originally a 1.8 cvh, so have the sump/pickup/mounts and a variety of rads so that bit is ‘easy’ ( yeah right!)
Just thought that a plastic water rail would be easier to make?

[slater]

Easy to make in 10s of 1000s maybe. Not sure why it would be easier to make a one off tho?

[comfortablynumb]

Just thought that machining plastic/nylon is a bit easier than cutting big holes in sheet steel, and I’m not competent enough to weld ally
I’d really want a fair old thickness of whatever material I used to prevent distortion and keep it watertight

[Dez]

Not really necessary, it doesn’t get hot or anything.

Machining it out of one massive piece of nylon would be a huge amount of unnecessary work to me.


The flanges on mine where 6mm steel but that’s cos I have so much of it kicking round as offcuts, it was overkill. 4mm would have been fine. It also allowed me enough thickness to machine a proper recess in the thermostat housing for it to sit in, and enough thickness to drill and tap 6mm holes to hold it together. But the flanges were already half made as I recycled some holesaw ‘holes’. If I was doing it from scratch again I’d probably have used thinner material.

I used a short bit of 50x25x3 off the rear flange to sit tight to the head (firewall clearance was an issue on this build) and the rest was leftover 1.5” stainless exhaust tube from making the headers.

I added a couple of mounting tabs to pick up on some unused bosses on the side of the head abound the exhaust to prevent vibration and that was it really apart from adding a temp sender boss by the thermostat.

[comfortablynumb]

Sorry guys, penny just dropped
I’m not looking at injection moulding, or machining from solid, I’m looking to get a piece of flat sheet, say 6x4” for argument sake, drilling it to fit the back of the engine and bonding a housing and water pipe to it, and fitting a mount for the original thermostat housing the other end
Strictly a one off, not looking to go into production etc
Just realised that we’re not all singing from the same songsheet

[jonsey]

I made one for my mk1 Escort with a 16v RS2000 engine fitted. I used 5mm ali plate and made up a slimline “box” welded to the plate and the mounted thermostat housing from a Ford xflow to the front to hold the stat. The heater hose take off was welded on so there was coolant flow near the stat when closed.

[comfortablynumb]

Thanks all, but he’s just sold his fiesta, so he’s bought one from burtons
Not sure why I bother sometimes! 🤔