Nothing Like a Little Stainless...

The Vortech supercharger on the Bullitt has a Vortech Aftercooler kit. Over the years, the anodized hardware around the stainless trim ring on top of the plastic tank got really rusty, looked lousy, and dropped crust into the coolant below. Also coolant would weep from around the gasket after using the car.




The hardware was so far gone, it couldn't be tightened. So I bought a gasket from Vortech for about $8, and since they wanted about $60 for the anodized hardware, I bought stainless hardware from the local hardware store. Spent about $14 or so on replacement allen head bolts with two washers and a lock nut for each.





It was definitely a hassle installing these bits with my big hands. I didn't drain the tank, and there are a pair of semi-circle trim rings inside the tank that is held on by the lock-nuts. Took a good hour to fiddle with this stuff. Looks great now though and should look that way for a long time. The stainless does not rest in the coolant, and the trim ring is stainless anyway so I can't see a downside at this time. We'll see!