Thermostat help

saudivette

Clueless In Sandland
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
2,633
Location
Aussie expat in Saudi Arabia
Guys, I've seen this posted before but to be honest, I can't be arsed trawling through the search feature on DC or CF to find it.

What is the thermostat that fails open and has the little holes drilled in it? What temp rating for a mild engine? All I can buy in this shit hole is a standard thermostat.

Thanks in advance...
 
MURRAY sold here at OReilly's makes one fails open, not closed....

why don't you just eliminate it, or put in a flow ring?? I ran without one for years down here in my vette, engine gets warm enough quick enough, and never overheated.....

now in colder climates....sure, but not Florida, or Sandland...
 
MURRAY sold here at OReilly's makes one fails open, not closed....

why don't you just eliminate it, or put in a flow ring?? I ran without one for years down here in my vette, engine gets warm enough quick enough, and never overheated.....

now in colder climates....sure, but not Florida, or Sandland...
Dunno really, just thought I should have a thermostat in there. Even in the temps out here, it should run fine with a thermostat fitted?? Mind you, in winter it gets BLOODY cold, not like Alaska, but cold enough!

What's a "flow ring"?
 
Dunno really, just thought I should have a thermostat in there. Even in the temps out here, it should run fine with a thermostat fitted?? Mind you, in winter it gets BLOODY cold, not like Alaska, but cold enough!

What's a "flow ring"?

Install a stat Wayne. If it gets cold, a good flowing stat will do no harm.
As for a flow ring, it's just a round plate with a large hole dating back to flathead days. Maybe then, but not now. Slow the flow down in the radiator to have it cool more, and you just slow the flow down in the engine so it gets hotter.:wink:
 
Is this the one we're talking about?
935-tstat.jpg
JEGS said:
Manufactured by Robert Shaw
and modified by Stewart, these thermostats are for most domestic applications, and they feature a balanced-sleeve design. They are constructed for high-flow, high-RPM applications and are strongly recommended for performance vehicles, especially when used in conjunction with a Stewart Stage 2, 3, or 4 Water Pump.

This will be ok in a "warm" street engine?

Sorry for all the dull questions, but I have to buy this from ya'll neck of the woods and I only want to have to do it once - shipping will probably be more than the thermostat...
 
I just bought a thermostat at the local part store and I was told that "yes of course" it fails open..... suspicious... :suspicious:

I'll post a pic tomorrow, havent installed it yet....
 
Surely you can find a 180 stat over there that says on the card....fails open or something pertaining to that, statement by the company/maker, not some sales dweeb.....all I know is Murray HERE says that on their cards....STANT does not, and I have had problems with stant....

also note, that in fact over the years HERE due to this EPA BS we live with...

the diameter of opening on most stats has been decreased....have to go with something like a marine stat out of stainless to get one with the large flow passageway.....

the effect is, the things ESPECIALLLY from STANT, seem to open late, and then the flow is restricted more than it was years ago...they went from something like 1.125 or so of an opeiing down to 1.0 opening...pretty close anyway....compare the two sizes you see in the stores, look close, I remember fighting this change some back in the 80-90's....finally figgered out the stat was opening, but taking it out entirely solved my hot running summer problems in Maryland.....when the rad/fan/shroud/pump/install was all new and the engine still ran 210 on the freeway, it's obviously a flow problem, and sure enough removing the stat, cured it.....the thing opens, but if not enough flow, in any marginal system...say a 455 ci Pontiac in a '70 Lemans/GTO.....you got a problem....

same sorta thing I noticed here in Florida with the shark years ago, for years I left the stat out completely, maybe put one in for winter, remove come March/April.....typical marginal cooling system operation...no wonder DeWitta sells radiators built like tanks with double row cooling....the only way to get over with it allready...much less the dual spal fans I have...
I have a ~89 F body radiator, single 1.25 inch core which fits right in no sweat, but had to go Spals for that off freeway into traffic overheating problem.....

NOW with first summer coming up and the LT1 modded intake on there, I am running a 180 stat....so far so good, but it's not 105f ambient so far, and it's not 140f on the streets....maybe 100 on the streets hottest yet....
 
Surely you can find a 180 stat over there that says on the card....fails open or something pertaining to that...
I have had a look around for thermostats and found "generic" or "no-name" brands that only list a temperature on the package, so I'd rather spend a bit extra and have to wait a while for it to arrive than buy some piece of shit.

It's hard out here as there's no yellow pages and no "speed" shops, just a huge area of parts shops, with no guarantee that any of them will have anything that you want, especially for something unusual like an "old" Corvette (or any old car for that matter). Keep in mind too, that not many people speak English, those that do generally don't do so very well and there's no prerequisite to actually know anything about cars to get a job in a parts shop! You can spend hours and walk for miles and all you've achieved is a blinding headache and the burning desire to stab someone - enough to drive you fuckin' mad :suicide:

I dunno how it happened but I have a small crack in my windscreen and I am NOT looking forward to trying to replace it out here :nuts:
 
Wayne, I not set foot off the NA continent in my life, unless you cound the BVI's or Bahamas as off......the BVI were fine from what I saw, but the Bahamas sucked...but it's also been some years too.....there is the first world, of USA, Japan, Europe, Australia,parts of S Amer... then the rest of the joint....and it's worlds apart, hard to imagine same planet even....

I have seen singularly UNimpressed with the border town in Mexico too....and that's been years also, somehow I suspect the situation not improved....

funny site, those towns....look into Mexico all you see is brown desert and nothingness for development.....looin into America, you see green grasses, trees and suburbs/cities/etc....and ROADS....really weird....but like I say, it's been years since last there too.....

:bounce::goodevil:
 
Is this the one we're talking about?
935-tstat.jpg


This will be ok in a "warm" street engine?

Sorry for all the dull questions, but I have to buy this from ya'll neck of the woods and I only want to have to do it once - shipping will probably be more than the thermostat...

Yes.:beer::beer::beer:
 
Hi Wayne
Why don't you just come visit us, Then you can carry what you need back in your baggage. Or do thay really go over it. I've done a lot of travling and most of the time on small things in your baggage thay don't bother with it. except in cuba.

I am sure you won't have a hard time finding a place to stay.
 
Hi Wayne
Why don't you just come visit us, Then you can carry what you need back in your baggage. Or do thay really go over it. I've done a lot of travling and most of the time on small things in your baggage thay don't bother with it. except in cuba.

I am sure you won't have a hard time finding a place to stay.


THAT wuld be a blast, but somehow FLORIDA sands I suspect not high on his list, neither the SW DESERT areas.....

maybe the Grand Canyon or the NW mountains....

or maybe fishing in the East River, Croc Dundee fishing school, eh mate???


:2nd::D
 
Hi Wayne
Why don't you just come visit us, Then you can carry what you need back in your baggage. Or do thay really go over it. I've done a lot of travling and most of the time on small things in your baggage thay don't bother with it. except in cuba.

I am sure you won't have a hard time finding a place to stay.

Funny you should mention that. I was talking to my wife about it two nights ago. Our plan is to do another 5 years out here, which'll see us own our house outright. Before we leave here, I want to go back to the US so I can do my A&P mechanic's license. That'll take me around 2 weeks to do, so do that first then spend another 2 weeks tripping around visiting all of you lot. Work out who lives where and try and make an itenerary so I can catch with as many of you as I can.

But to answer your question Darrow, sometimes the customs guy'll open my car, look at the luggage then wave me on, other times they'll want everything out of the car and go through the car and all your luggage. I've not had it happen to me but I've seen other cars with all the wheels and door trims off and shit like that when they're looking for something! I have bought quite a few car parts back from Oz or the UK and I've never had a problem with it. The customs guy didn't like the bottles of Eastwood Powder Coat and Paint Stripper I bought back from the UK but once he opened a bottle and took a big sniff, he let me keep it :smash: - that stuff is NASTY!

I'd come see you if I could Gene. I grew up on, and have my property at, the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Sand here is more like lighter coloured yard dirt and everywhere is a pile of shit - rubbish everywhere. Sand in the real world is far better, normally associated with a nice area with girlies in bikinis and cold (real) beer! Absolutely NO comparison between this dump and your part of the US of A! Oh, I'm not much of a fisherman either - I used to go out shooting a lot before I came out here, but not fishing. Unless I can be guranteed that I'll catch a couple of fish, it bores me shitless. And, apparently, using expanding bait is illegal :eek:
 
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Is this the one we're talking about?
935-tstat.jpg


This will be ok in a "warm" street engine?

Sorry for all the dull questions, but I have to buy this from ya'll neck of the woods and I only want to have to do it once - shipping will probably be more than the thermostat...

Familiar problem. I would run without the thermostat for a while untill you can put it in some other larger shipment. Probably would have to wait a little longer for it to warm up.
 
Just as a side note, my thermostat arrived and it doesn't look like anything that I was able to buy here...

You probably already know this but i thought i would give you a little reminder,
You cannot powder coat the t-stat,it will not work properly if you do that :suicide:. I know pc is addictive but you will have to restrain yourself this time :lol::lol:
 
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