Yep, great writeup. Mine had the new UIM gasket kit put on under warranty, but it seemed to be using some coolant lately. I'm watching it (exhaust, oil, ice cube tray) closely and rounding up the parts!

"...ice cube tray..." LOL!

Won't hurt to keep an eye on it.

Macdrive - I got that from 2 different sources. One is from my AllData account, and the other is from the dealer'* parts counter where they said..."yep, that'* the one. I don't know the part number, though - and we don't carry it!"

Boosty - the 99 L36s and the 00 L67s that I've recently done both had that second elbow. I'll have tor remember to check the 98 Buick Regal GS that I just had my daughter buy, but from reading what people have posted, it sounds like '98 was the last year for the metal one.

Bill and Lash - I've run into the same things when asking about a metal version of the elbows. It'* been like "Big Foot". " Done heard tell about it, but ain't actually seen one."

hmmmm, beginning to sense a trend here.

[quote="lash"]"...ice cube tray..." LOL!

Someone else on here dubbed it that earlier, good name for it. I hope I never see Ice Cubes in it though

Nooo not bigfoot

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ht=metal+elbow

I believe it'* in the prototype stages

Yeah, yeah, we all saw that, but more than once there has been mention of a metal elbow to purchase, even before that thread....ahhh...never mind.

Besides, how long is this thing going to take to prototype? It'* been four months since that thread. I know that I'm ready to buy a completed product....

Ok, I gather these elbows don't last long judging by how bad everybody wants metal ones Now, does anyone feel the Dorman (Help) elbow materials may not be up to the job, compared to GM elbows? I am only asking, since the materials could be pretty critical for the high temp, corrosive coolant. If everyone had as frequent problems with the GM elbow, I'll go ahead and pick up the Help elbow.

The coolant elbows will fail, sooner or later. It'* generally after many miles, but as something will have to be removed to replace them (tensioner and/or LIM) it is recommended to replace them while you have things apart. Why take things apart again later just to replace the elbows?

I don't know if anyone has done a study or comparison between the Dorman and the GM elbows. Bill Wren had a bad O-ring on a GM elbow, and BillBoost had a Dorman warp. I've used the Dormans on 4 vehicles without any issues, so far.

Dorman does not make the elbows themselves. I've looked at both and aside from the O'ring coating color, cannot tell the difference.

From what I've seen here as feedback from people using them, there isn't a clear choice between them.