Custom Thermostat Housing Manufacturer
Thermostat housings are a workhorse in the automotive world, designed to keep coolant flowing and to perform one simple (but crucial) task—prevent engines from overheating. Learn more about everything that goes into manufacturing such seemingly simple parts, and why sand casting is the best way to make them.
Request a QuoteThermostat Housing Manufacturing: The Housing Market That Never Heats Up
Believe it or not, one of the most vital components in your vehicle is a part you might not hear much about—thermostat housing. Automotive thermostat housing’s role is to regulate coolant intake, and when it’s not working properly, it can result in an overheating engine. Not an issue any car owner wants to deal with!
Thermostat housings are used in cars, where they’re found in many internal combustion engines. Typically located on the engine block or cylinder head, they house the thermostat, which regulates the coolant flow. Housings can be made from materials including metals like aluminum and even plastic, but at The Federal Group, we prefer steel for its high strength.
Engine coolant flows constantly between the engine block and head, traveling through the thermostat housing and into the radiator where the coolant is cooled. Typically, the housings include a main body that’s sand-cast, then two machined parts inserted into the main body—a top smokestack, and an arm. Inside the vehicle, the housing will serve as a home for the car’s thermostat.
Thermostat housings can be made using sand casting, which is a specialty of TFG USA. Read on to learn what goes into making the best automotive thermostat housings.
The Best Sand Casting Process for Automotive Thermostat Housings
Sand casting is just one way to create molds for metal casting manufacturing, and the Federal Group specializes in sand casting thermostat housings for a few reasons.
Housings tend to be the kind of down-and-dirty parts that are an ideal candidate for being manufactured through sand casting, as they’re not as complex as parts that require die or investment casting. With housings, a couple of spots will need to be machined, but the tolerances involved aren’t exceptionally tight.
Sand casting is the oldest metal casting method, dating back to 1540, and it remains one of the most versatile ways to cast metal. We use the sand casting process because it’s an exceptionally efficient casting solution, while also being one of the most cost-effective and widely used, helping to reduce lead time and costs for our clients. It’s ideal for the fabrication of low to medium-volume production runs, prototype castings, and conversion of welded components to castings.
As you might imagine, sand plays a starring role in the sand casting mold creation process. Mold patterns are packed in sand, and then the pattern is removed, leaving a mold cavity. Imagine packing wet sand around plastic buckets to build sandcastles on the beach. Next, liquid metal is poured into the mold, and these molds can in turn be used to create metal products in a wide range of shapes and sizes.
Advantages to Sand Casting Housings
While housings may be a simple, down-and-dirty part, they’re important to get right. Sometimes simple parts, if not taken seriously, can be pretty disruptive.
We’ve become a premier, preferred manufacturer for custom metal parts, such as automotive thermostat housings, made using sand casting in part because of our distinctive process.
When deciding whether to use sand casting for housings, for us, it all comes down to form, fit, and function. An important consideration in choosing a casting type for housings is the desired surface finish.
Lower level casting processes like water glass can create pits and high porosity. As the casting technique increases, moving into sand casting, the tolerances improve and the finish gets better.
Success in sand casting is all about technique: how fast you pour the metal, how you pour it into the mold, which additives you use when you’re melting the steel to enhance the cooling and the finish. That’s where our engineering expertise comes in, as we use a flow analysis to ensure the material is going to flow correctly through the molding process.
We also bring our signature TFG-USA approach to sand casting thermostat housings. In everything we do, we seek out the optimal process, taking into account the priorities you have for each project and seeing where we can meet them according to your budget.
Going with sand casting will guarantee:
- Low initial setup costs, especially for low-volume runs
- Ultimate flexibility. If you anticipate changes to the design of the mold, sand casting is perfect, as it’s easier to adjust molds compared to other casting processes, such as die casting or investment casting.
- Shorter lead times as compared to other casting processes.
Start an Automotive Thermostat Housing Manufacturing Project Today
As your metal parts experts, The Federal Group can handle your sand-casting needs. We specialize in sand casting everything from axles and engine blocks to gearboxes, pistons, pumps, and custom automotive thermostat housings.
We can walk you through the process outlined above and answer any questions you have about the sand casting process and how it can help in producing housings.
Every sand casting project is different, and at TFG USA, we treat your order with the care and individualized attention it deserves. Contact us today to get a free quote for your upcoming sand casting project.
