Thermastat housing

[steve c]

hi. im new to the club and also morris ownership, iv just brought a 1967 saloon and have just started to tackle the tin worm ,im also trying to get the thermastat housing off, nuts and washers came off ok, but the housing is stuck fast, do the studs need to be removed or should the housing just lift off? thanks in advace for any help ta steve

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Welcome to the messageboard

The housing should just lift off but the aluminium housing welds itself onto the steel studs. The best method to remove is usually to cut the old housing away with a hack saw and hopefully you wont wreck the studs.

[bmcecosse]

Try to free off the studs - run penetrating oil (or coke!) down the studs and try to get them out one by one. Some heat from a blowtorch on the alloy housing may help. Why do you want the stat housing off?

[steve c]

thanks for the help, i want the stat out to check/ replace, ive been running penatrating oil down the studs for a day or two now but still stuck solid, i dont fancy trying to unscrew the studs as i can just imagine them snapping,

[bmcecosse]

Well indeed they may snap - but just try tightening/slackening them one by one. New studs are much less expensive than a new housing! When you refit -run a drill bit down the housing holes to ease them out slightly - and smear the studs with grease.

[MarkyB]

If it isn't broke, don't fix it!
You should be able to feel if there is a thermostat in place with your finger, as long as there is I'd leave it alone for the time being.

[linearaudio]

I'm sort of with MarkyB, but if this going to be a longish term project (by the sounds of it!), then it would be aggravating to find in the middle of summer that the stat is jammed shut...or some time the gasket will start to leak, these things seem to affect cars that are laid up more than ones which are regularly driv.
If the studs won't shift, and often they won't, then a sharp clout on the end of each will often jar them loose. Probably burr the ends, but as BMC says, they are cheap enough. I've usually had more success with a good, really tight visegrip wrench than by using the 2 nuts locked together route. Haven't had one snap in the block yet, it is a coarse thread that end, the jarring will normally suffice.

[bmcecosse]

That's the reason I asked earlier - "why?" Because thermostats are very reliable and it's unlikely to be the top priority on a car that has been laid up for a while......

[robedney]

I ignored mine at first -- the car had sat for ten years -- and when I finally decided to have a look it was fine. I pulled the housing because I found so much gunk around the water pump when I replaced it. Thought I'd better have a look. That reminds me, I need to drain and flush the cooling system this weekend. I've got enough hours now on the heavy duty flushing agent I've used. Should be interesting to see what comes out!

I know it's considered sinful, but after I'd done the penetrating oil and other things I took a very sharp chisel and pried from the seam where the T housing meets the head. That did the trick -- I was able to walk it off without hurting anything. I put Never Seize on the studs before reassembling.

[steve c]

hi

and thanks for all the help and sugestions, two studs snapped trying to get them out. housing still solid no amount of tapping ect was going to shift it, so had to get drastic, i drilled out the studs in the housing( drilled down to the level of the head) and even then it would not move, in the end had to break it to get it off, then drill out the broken part of stud still in head and re-tap, now ready for new studs and housing to arrive. ---- there was no stat fitted, and the housing was thick in rust, now at least it can be flushed and cleaned out . regards steve

[bmcecosse]

Oh well -take the precautions mentioned earlier when fitting new........