Thermostat housing...POS

spetz01

Registered User
If I could start the car with out the thermostat housing, I would run this piece if crap over until it was flattened into oblivion. What a stupid idea putting the thermostat vertical so it easy to put in. Having the same problem on the old 66 Lincoln. I guess old habits die hard. I hear it took a whole team of monkeys at Chevrolet to figure out to lay it horizontal.
 
Put a little dab of sealant on the outer edge of the t-stat....

It will hold it in place while you install the housing.....
 
Better yet, use waterpump specific RTV to glue the thermostat into the housing, then use the same RTV to glue the gasket onto the housing. Then apply even more RTV to the exposed surface of the gasket. Now you will have an assembly that won't move around on you and you can then bolt it to the intake. It might not even leak.

Yes, it's a pretty dumb system. On the 4.6 they use an o-ring and the thermostat sits horizontal. They do the waterpump with an o-ring also making both jobs simple brain dead operations. :)
 
I think the problem may be the gasket itself. The small hole that leads to the flush out inlet seems to be misaligned. I had to add silicone to the top to stop it from sweating.
 
The best idea I've heard on here yet regarding the tstat housing would be to make the 2 mounting bolts into studs in the manifold. It would make alignment a lot easier. The RTV trick only works to hold it in there if you let the RTV dry. Don't ask me how I know that:eek:
 
The best idea I've heard on here yet regarding the tstat housing would be to make the 2 mounting bolts into studs in the manifold. It would make alignment a lot easier. The RTV trick only works to hold it in there if you let the RTV dry. Don't ask me how I know that:eek:

Oh come on Jeremy, I've only installed about 80 of these things that way. :p
 
The RTV trick only works to hold it in there if you let the RTV dry. Don't ask me how I know that:eek:

I use superglue. A dot at the top, bottom and each side is enough to hold the thermostat into the housing quite well and it will come off pretty easily with just a little force as long as you stick to just a little dot.
 
The best idea I've heard on here yet regarding the tstat housing would be to make the 2 mounting bolts into studs in the manifold. It would make alignment a lot easier. The RTV trick only works to hold it in there if you let the RTV dry. Don't ask me how I know that:eek:

This works gud. If you have a spare SC inlet, you can take the 2 of the stud-n-nut sets and screw them into the intake manifold for the t-stat housing. Probably have to use a couple or four washers to make sure you bottom-out on the housing and not the stud itself. Then, all you need to worry about is keeping the t-stat from falling down, which, as stated already, some RTV works well for. :)
 
I actually realized the fomoco trick.. The the upper rim of the oem tstat is egg shaped. Put it in the housing, 1/4 turn and it locks into place, after that everything falls into place. I found that years ago, after I had to replace my housing.. of course means you have to buy the oem tstats.
 
I just use rtv and let is dry, its not the easiest to get it on without leaking but with a tad of patience it will.
 
As far as the housing leaking, You can mill the surface flat on a belt sander. If the manifold is warped though, that may be a little more involved.
 
I just had a machine shop fab a 1/4 steel plate with the recess for the t-stat and drill all the holes,weld it to housing.I took it and had it powder-coated after I cleaned up all of the welds....O-yeah,almost forgot,I also had the shop weld a bung for a mechanical temp gauge just above and at an angle from the t-stat....Working like a charm....:D
 
I've found that:
  1. make sure the surfaces are clean and flat
  2. use a good gasket
  3. use a gasket sealer and let it set up fully
  4. let it sit for a few days before you run it

Mine leaked until I did the above and it's never leaked again.
 
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