I've got a hole in mine unfortunately. 3.4 S. I think its the same part for the 3.4 and 3.8
If anybody has one available for sale in decent condition please send me a PM

 

check eBay.

 

Have had a look and found one.. a long way away from me in the USA!

 

yes you can find most anything in the USA.

 

Can you not find someone local who does Aluminium welding and have the hole repaired. You might find it a lot cheaper than buying even a second hand inlet manifold.

 

An attempt has already been made. I'm told that the aluminium was too corroded and 'dirty' to weld effectively in the particular spot even after a lot of grinding to clean the surfaces. The result was a larger hole than we started with.
It looks like there had been coolant leakage over a long long time which had collected in a recessed area of the water rail next to one of the fixing holes which had resulted in extensive corrosion of the aluminium.

 

is this it?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/15414664940...8AAOSweupfinFj

 

I presume this is what you are looking for C15800. They corrode like mad if people are careless with coolant concentration.










87 here:

 

Is it in a location where you could drill and tap it and fit a blanking on lug?

​​​​​​It may also be worth looking at an parts for MK2 jags which on the 3.4 and 3.8 should be the same.

 

Yes that's it.
And yes its very corroded at the front of the engine

 

I've found one on ebay and its on its way
Looked to be in reasonable condition from a seller with a high score/rating

 

Chris, so where is this hole that can't be repaired ?
The surfaces of the Otter Switch and the thermostat housing are rough, but that can be machined or even block sanded to be made right again.
Getting the studs out would be the challenge, but doable.

A Dremel tool can be used to cut all the corrosion out of the inlet feed and JB weld works well to repair the aluminum, I've done that before in this area and it lasts.
Mine was worse then yours in that area, by the time I cut out all the white oxidized aluminum, I had holes through the casting.

 

This is not my water rail, just using the image posted by Glynn as a reference.
The hole is at the junction of the hose connection and the thermostat housing.
When the guy tried to build up the aluminium the hole blew through

 

This portion of the manifold is very susceptible to corrosion when people don't maintain coolant concentration.








Unfortunately this pic partially cuts it off but finding manifolds in this condition is difficult. (pre polishing & Chem cleaning)

 

I'll consider my self lucky, I was even able to get the studs out with no problem.
Who ever the last owners were must have diligently changed the coolant on a regular bases.

 

You are. I've seen that tube/pipe corrode right off. Luckily my car was OK.