that cute little pipe running along the top of the engine

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rayofleamington
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Post by rayofleamington »

Well, the thermostat housing came away with barely a struggle - the problem is that it can't move enough to free the thermostat itself because of the bulk of the thermostat keeping it all lodged in place.
well if you're replacing the thermostat, then you could 'adjust' the old one (hammer and blunt instrument) to get clearance for the housing past - plus a little tweak of the pipe position upwards may do the trick.
The thermostat shouldn't be very tall unless it was put in upsidedown!

[I've never actually done this... but it seems like a reasonable idea]
Ray. MMOC#47368. Forum moderator.

Jan 06: The Minor SII Africa adventure: http://www.minor-detour.com
Oct 06: back from Dresden with my Trabant 601 Kombi
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Sept 2010 - finally gave up breaking down in a SII Landy...
where to break down next?
2013... managed to seize my 1275 just by driving it round the block :(
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Kevin
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Post by Kevin »

When I first did it I just did the two nuts and torqued it back up
Snap and never had a problem doing it that way either.
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wibble_puppy
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Post by wibble_puppy »

rayofleamington wrote:well if you're replacing the thermostat, then you could 'adjust' the old one (hammer and blunt instrument) to get clearance for the housing past - plus a little tweak of the pipe position upwards may do the trick
hmmmm yeah..... but that doesn't solve the basic problem, about future access to both pipe and thermostat.... i'm kinda looking for a neat future-proof fix....... sounds like most peeps don't think there would be a problem for me to undo those two nuts and lift off the pipe brackets...... do you think that's not a good idea? :(
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Packedup
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Post by Packedup »

The only force on the studs with a cold non-running engine is caused by the nuts holding it all together. Given the headgasket may well have glued the head to the block anyway, I really don't see a problem with simply undoing them - I've had cars with stripped/ sheared studs that have driven perfectly well and suffered no damage, so really just whizzing them off and torquing back up ought to be fine! :)

I'd still pull the head if I were you - There's really very little to go wrong, and it's well worth it to be able to clean the chambers/ valves up, get the crud off the pistons, and check everything's as it should be.
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badfelafel
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Post by badfelafel »

This suggestion is a bit 'out there'... but you could get rid of the heater in the car, and then you wouldn't need the pipework to it!
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wibble_puppy
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Post by wibble_puppy »

Always liking the "out-there" solutions :D - thanks very much for the lateral thinking badfelafel 8)
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badfelafel
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Post by badfelafel »

They are fine in other climates! *grin* Haven't experienced winter in a moggy yet, and not sure I fancy it without any heater!
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Barry, Miriam, Ellie, Maia and the Morris
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rayofleamington
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Post by rayofleamington »

do you think that's not a good idea?
It's not a 'good' idea however it will probably be fine ;-)
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dunketh
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Post by dunketh »

On a cast iron head'd car I wouldn't worry about undoing a couple of head bolts. :D

If we were talking alloy heads then I'd be worried.

Stat housings are a complete B****. I ended up battering mine and fitting a new one. Such was my temper and its lack of cooperation! :lol:
What would Macgyver do..?
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Kevin
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Post by Kevin »

Stat housings are a complete B****. I ended up battering mine and fitting a new one. Such was my temper and its lack of cooperation!
Most of that is down to not running with a 50% antifreeze solution all year round, making sure the studs have a bit of clearance, if necessary open the holes up a tiny bit so the housing slips on and use copper grease on the studs, or change the housing for one of Minor Developments brass ones.
Cheers

Kevin
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dannymac
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Post by dannymac »

Did mine a few days ago, just bend them out the way then bend them back again when your done. Had to smash the housing off though because it was seized solid but i have another car for spares so i wasn't worried. You might need new studs and housing but if you do bend the studs you can bend them back again, Good luck.
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rayofleamington
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Post by rayofleamington »

Oi Nikki - someone's nikked your shell!!!
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:o
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