my housing is pitted really badly and trying to weld it brought out so much crud from within that is no longer usable. it seems that nobody makes the 61-64 style housings. there is a 65+ housing readily available from the parts store though. i did notice the angle of the housings outlet is different and not ideal for my configuration, but its all i can get my hands on at the moment. does anyone know if the 65+ iron intake manifold has the same bolt pattern as the 61-64 manifolds? also, if anyone has a good condition 61-64 style thermostat housing they are willing to part with, let me know. thanks, -Shanto
Some have used aftermarket Ford small block thermostat housing by reaming the bolt holes a little bit and chamfering the bypass hole. Different outlet positions also.
thanks for the tip about the ford piece. at first i was only finding 45* angled pieces but eventually found one with a 90* outlet. it was about 30 bucks on ebay and i ordered it. i hope you are right about the hole layout, because it will be a perfect fit for my configuration. not very much room in my conversion and all the other housings i have found orient the upper hose in a direction that wouldnt fit.
I’ve learned that a lot of parts stores won’t have a listing for the 215, when I come up against that I ask for the same part but for the Buick v-6 , it’s the same thing and they almost always have it listed.