[961tat]

[ Iwouldn't reuse the old thermostat housing, but buy a new assembly complete. There may be a choice of different thermostat opening temp ]

As above if the old housing is in good condition I would reuse it with new O rings never had a issue doing that and I've done a lot off k series headgasket over the last 10 years . Vaseline on the rubbers before assembly .

But the rear metal coolant pipe a must to change or recover if the rust is on the outside , if rust inside bin it .

[Mr Teddy Bear]

Yep the one that Mark took off mine had more perforations than a lace table cloth; plus a couple of straight edged slots where it looked like it had been 'encouraged' by a straight edged tool of some description. So it's a good idea to inspect for prior bodgery!

[Ricky_M]

Thanks for all the info.
Indeed the steel cooling pipe running under the intake manifold is quite rusty on the outside and I would like to change it but I'm having a hard time finding any replacement parts for this - if anyone can share some suppliers I would appreciate.
The engine block went to be prepared (had a small dent that had to be filled in and very slightly skimmed). The workshop knows what they are doing apparently, so let's wait and see.

[itcaptainslow]

Rimmers list them - https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-PEP102160LP

They also do a stainless steel one, but currently have no stock.

[Evil C]

The original mild steel coolant rail is officially 'No Longer Available' (which normally actually means 'out-of-stock and we aren't likely to get any more made').

The stainless steel version is currently available - Rimmers (or any other genuine MG Rover parts supplier) should currently be able to order one from Motaclan, or they can be obtained direct from Motaclan (https://motaclan.com/product/pipe-assem ... _10475_18/).

If you haven't ordered from Motaclan before and sign up for their email newsletter, they will email you a discount code to get 10% off your first order - well worth having bearing in mind the stainless steel coolant rail has a full price of £171.94

[Mr Teddy Bear]

I realise that Ricky has a relatively late K Series engine.

But for the benefit of other people reading this thread, neither Motoclan or Rimmer's can be trusted regarding the build order of early R8 [XW] K Series engined vehicles. The pipe bend differs, possible due to removing some of the external webs when Rover redesigned the block for the 1600 & 1800 variants [the damp liner blocks].

[961tat]

K Series Mild Steel Rear Coolant Rail / Pipe - PEP102160 (25 / 45 / ZR – Discount MG Rover Spares - Tel 02380 001133 / Email sales@dmgrs.co.uk https://www.dmgrs.co.uk/collections/pip ... land-rover

This will fit later model and for the early models there's two types depending on the the thermostat housing ally or plastic.

[Evil C]

Thank you for that link 961tat - I hadn't thought of looking at DMGRS I wonder where they are sourcing those from (or whether they are simply existing stock) as they clearly won't be getting them from Motaclan/XPart and if they are still being manufactured somewhere, I would expect Motaclan to have them too?

I am not sure that earlier posts referring to the earlier coolant rail has any relevance to this thread, other than to cause confusion. The car which is the subject of the thread is a 2004 Rover Streetwise.

On that subject, Rimmers online catalogue shows the earlier type coolant rail for the R8 as "no longer available" (Motaclan don't have parts for earlier cars listed on their website, but would assume that Rimmers catalogue will mirror that of Motaclan as they are official wholesalers for Motaclan), and DMGRS site shows only the versions of the coolant rail for damp liner (post 1995) engines and refers to the alternative types for the twin rail set-up for the early MGF and the one for the Rover 75; no mention of the earlier type for the pre-1995 wet liner engines.