Thermostat Gasket - Most Wrong, only one Right

Mike8675309

Registered User
I had quite an adventure tracking down a thermostat gasket. If one came in my gasket sets (which I think one did) I lost it. So I go to NAPA and get a gasket that looks right. Get home and match it to the thermostat housing and I suppose you could call it close, but it obviously isn't right. The hole for the breather is too large and nothing lines up quite right.

Went to a couple other places to try and find a proper one and finally found one store has one in their warehouse from Victor. Picture on their computer looks better, so I order it up and go get it this morning.

Below are two pictures. One is the wrong gasket, of which I have two copies of. The other is the proper gasket. Note the differences. I don't know who the manufacturer of the wrong ones are, but they are the one the parts store tries to give us. I haven't seen a Felpro gasket to see if it's right, but so far it looks like only Victor has it right for the SC.

Down side to the Victor gasket is no sticky side to help hold the thermostat in. So I used RTV and let it sit for a while to hold the thermostat in, then put the gasket in with RTV on both sides.

Yeah... cold water leak at the thermostat housing. I gotta get a billet thermostat housing made.
 

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yea , ive had some good ol times with the t-stat housing..it can be a pita,
i did what you did and use rtv and let it adhere the tstat to the housing and then bolted it back on.
I know most places also do have the wrong gasket, im dont remember where i found the right one.........almost certain it wasn't ford either...bastards:mad:
 
I had to change mine out some while back. I was only able to get the right gasket at ford. I also noted something else, the ford t-stat end that goes in the intake is not round ( slightly oval ), while the standard aftermarket ones are round. If you take the ford one and turn it, it lodges and stays in place.
 
SC T-stat Gasket

The correct thermostat housing gasket is SC-specific. That is, it is for SC's only. Most places will sell you the one for the standard V6 and insist that it's the right one. I recently put one of these in on my '91 SC. Had to special order it from Pep Boys, pay in advance, pay nine bucks for it, then wait for two weeks while they screwed up the special order... in short, it was a nightmare for a simple, fairly- common gasket.

Previously, I had ordered one for my '95 from SCP.
Fifteen bucks for the T-stat INCLUDING the gasket! That's why I always try to buy whatever parts I need from Supercoupe Performance!
They know that you have an SC, and know what you need, and they get it right the FIRST time. And they ask you the one question no one else seems to bother with....."Is your SC an early or late model"?
Instead of, "What's an SC"?

The rest, they often insist on selling you the wrong part,
simply because their computer said so......

On top of that, I like to support a business which deals specifically with our cars, and is an enthusiast himself. I've purchased many items from SCP over the years, the quality is always top notch and the prices are very competitive, sometimes cheaper, and most importantly, they always fit........'Nuff said.
Make It Easy on Yourself, Check out SCP first......
 
I quit using a gasket altogether. Just use the sealant.
Danny

Does that work well? Which sealant are you using and what is your installation method?

I thought about trying that, but had concerns of issues with the difference in the Steel housing and aluminum manifold requiring something a bit more stable than just RTV.
 
Does that work well? Which sealant are you using and what is your installation method?

I thought about trying that, but had concerns of issues with the difference in the Steel housing and aluminum manifold requiring something a bit more stable than just RTV.

I had to do that on the side of the road once, and yes it does work for a temp fix but as for long term Im not too sure if I would trust it. I always keep a can of "RIGHT STUFF" handy and thats what I used then. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and plopped it on and tightened the bolts down. I left it that way for 3 months before I finally got around to changing it out.
As for the gasket I usually just cut my own out of a sheet of gasket material available at most parts stores, because as most of you have mentioned the right one is just a bear to find.

S
 
Old gasket making trick,

Lay the gasket material over the surface your trying to match to.
Take the round end of a ball peen hammer, and do some tapping.
This will transfer an acurate pattern to cut to.
 
i've used the felpros on all mine...after a while the housing might become a bit warped since is really thin metal....i end up using two felpro gaskets stacked together...no probs.
 
Old gasket making trick,

Lay the gasket material over the surface your trying to match to.
Take the round end of a ball peen hammer, and do some tapping.
This will transfer an accurate pattern to cut to.

Exactly what I do anymore. Perfect match and I dont have to spend the gas money running around hoping to find the gasket the parts man told me he had but mysteriously lost or sold in the 5 minutes it took me to get there.
Besides , Ill need the practice one day when the parts gods discontinue making them.
I posted above about the right stuff, well when your on the side of the road then you do what ya gotta do to get going, it wasnt meant to be a pernament fix. <---disclaimer , dont do it cause I did:rolleyes:

S
 
Making gasket....

I just use the High Temp copper color stuff. Put a coat on both surfaces and let it dry, then go back and put another thin coat on. Put the part on but, don't tighten it up, let it dry then tighten it.
Danny
 
I bought a housing from someone off of here a few months ago to replace mine. I just tried for the second time tonight to get that thing to seal. Leaks just how it did the previous time. Drip drip drip, like a leaky toilet! First time I used the motorcraft gasket, this time I used some very high quality rtv. Now I'm going to try using my old housing and see what happens. I put a small coat of rtv to hold the thermostat in place on the housing, i'm on here just waiting for the rtv to set up so I can stick the SOB back on! This time I'm filling the thing with water first. Cross your fingers.

If that doesn't work, Mike let me know where to find a billet housing. Of all things done, I can't get the friggin' thermostat to stop leaking. lol
 
I make my own. I got the right one from felpro in my head gasket set, but after that I tried to get them from Auto Zone and they say the felpro one isn't available even if you have them type in that part number. I haven't tried the ROL gasket from them yet.

I bought a ton of gasket material and traced out my felpro gasket before I put it on. Now I can make as many as I need. I think both of my SC's now have home made gaskets.

A little trick I do:

Take a small dab of red loctite and put it on the top of the housing where the t-stat sits, put the t-stat in the housing and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Then take the two bolts put them through the holes, slide the gasket over them, align it with the intake manifold and tighten it down. That works great for me.

I do sand the housing surface down with sand paper to make sure its flat and free of old gasket left overs.
 
i do as scott said ,i make some of my own from traces i've made
as for the t-stat - a couple dabs of rtv in the groove and place t-stat- let set for about 5min ,then install

cheers
 
ive been batteling a leaky therm housing since mid 1998.ive used everything under the sun,it would eventually start seeping then dripping on on and on...ive tried new housings different gaskets,sealers..the ONLY thing that has kept it at bay has been "the right stuff"...maybe its not for everyone,but it sure worked for me,almost a year and still sealed!!.....watch tomarrow morning it will start dripping!!
 
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