it has a 455 (Didn't know til a year or so ago they put some 350s in near the end of production) So, driving downtown ATL to pick up my Dad after heart surgery, a few miles from the hospital, car overheated :/ had to call friend to pick me up and have car towed. Thermostat was stuck shut. Dad and I got RSV, and the car took a back seat. Sunny day in driveway, replaced t-stat and used a NON-hardening sealant (stupid, just found a tube that I had nearby) and bottom of gasket moved, leaked badly. When I took it apart again (what a horrible design the original housing, why is there a flange/lip all around that makes it so hard to get to the bolts?) It was near dark, and now, not blinded by the sun, I saw how terrible my housing was! so, ordered the one every parts house seems to carry and....as you can see in the 2nd pic , gasket wasn't close to fitting and I found out with the housing being a 1/4 inch thicker than the original, now I couldn't use the original tapered housing bolts! Of course, home depot didn't have anything that came close to these. A pal with 4 76 Electras said, order a housing from T/A Performance. Which I did. Seemed much better quality. (expensive with shipping, right under $50!) Lowes had some automotive "body" bolts that were longer, and tapered. Ok, maybe they will work? Tried them, seemed to be perfect. I had at this point, used a tacky gasket maker and put gasket on the intake So, I was only juggling the t-stat and the housing, and 1 bolt. I got the bolts started, wow, can it be? Perfectly sized? No need for half assed job of using washers? snugged them up, (Put tacky gasket stuff on both gasket and housing) and....leaks, still leaks...not as bad, but leaking on the passenger side bottom. Tried to carefully tighten the bolts, but now the passenger side is moving easily. Crap....looked at some other posts (was going to put one link here, but copied what I wrote here in an email, lost link) people mentioned filing/sanding the housing, but should a new one from T/A be an issue? I've never seen the Right Stuff RTV, but my best bet? After of course, I find real taped bolts...cars been sitting over a month, this is driving me nuts. Dads 79 Lincoln should not be a daily driver (and heat barely works) but that's what it is now....should I have put the gasket on the housing instead? Can that gasket be keeping the t-stat from going in far enough? Why did Buick have them vertical instead of horizontal? Ugh...suggestions at this point?
I ended up making my own gasket from the cometic cork roll stock. I used the black weather strip adhesive to stick my new gasket to the housing. Such a simple job, but not so simple… make sure the mating surface in the intake is 100% clean.
What is "cosmetic cork roll stock"? Do tell. You mean like a sheet of carb gasket cork you might buy at NAPA or something? What thickness? How does it hold up to repeated heating/cooling cycles?
I don't think the hardware is anything special? I think I went with stainless Hardware strore stuff. Just make sure they aren't too long.
Nope, nothing special, nothing "tapered" about those bolts. Simply choose 5/16" - 18 coarse thread bolts the appropriate length. "Appropriate" means slightly shorter than manifold thread depth + gasket thickness + thermostat housing flange thickness. Don't over-tighten; 20 lb-ft is fine. Devon
At this point you may have damaged the bypass hose. The proper gasket should be readily available nearly anywhere. There is no need to smear it with rtv if both the intake and the outlet are clean.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog.../+thermostat+housing+/+water+outlet+seal,2136 https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...ystem,thermostat+housing+/+water+outlet,10337
Also make sure the thermostat doesn't slip out of its "spot" in the intake. There is a machined step where the t-stat sits....if it slips down, the neck will never seal.
here are the original (I assume) 2 bolts I can't use now because of the thermostat housing being thicker at the bolt holes. Did I just magically shear them off(of they rusted off) the same number of threads on both bolt ends? I count 8 threads. that would be great if I can use "regular" bolts!
I see what you mean about "tapered", I've not seen those bolts used on a thermostat housing before. They aren't damaged, though I prefer using fasteners threaded all the way to the end to maximize thread engagement. Devon
The Thermostat outlet that Rock Auto sells is literally GARBAGE. I threw it out. Well, I recycled the thermostat outlet. The one I got was branded four seasons. Below are photos next to the TA part for comparison. . TA on top, note how non round the holes are on four seasons and also how much smaller bypass hole is. Four Seasons. TA Four Seasons TA TA Four season, notice smaller opening and rough machines surface. Gasket fit, TA with included gasket on left Four Seasons with included gasket on right. Notice abysmal alignment. So, unless you just don't car about quality these cheap parts are NOT worth it in my opinion. I used the weather strip adhesive, not as a sealer, but to attach my homemade gasket to the outlet body, so that it stayed put during installation.
Same here on those bolts. Those are not the bolts I have either. Those look like oil pan bolts. Length, taper, washer. If they work though, they work. Seem a touch short?
