[Whaler]

went back today and had my oldtimer look for a 180 thermostat in his collection. No luck as he says these big old jobs are not sold that often anymore. We talked about Bob's tip on the hole and commented on how this old style element did have a small hole in it.( a Gates unit made of brass etc). He mentioned that some dodge vans etc are notorious for airlocks and blown head gaskets. He said so many pay little attebntion to coolant levels these days.
So I paid him for a new rad cap I did get off him.
My expansion tank was in good shape according to him. Later
I proceeded to glassbead it and painted it in a nice gloss black, no dents!

Looking for an element in the higher profile parts store, they would ask what model...LOL I would say how about old ford FE or for particulars, I would say 64-65 T-bird 390 thru 428...they would look at me and snicker. Eventually we came with a Stant unit part # 13478, used aparently on dodges, it is 63 MM 180deg.
I told him that anything with a dia of about 2.5 inches would likely work.
Once home, it sat in the housing fine, so I have followed Bob's tip and drilled the hole as this unit is nothing like the one I had earlier. The old stock item seemed to be a much better quality material construction and it did already have the hole.

Also got some of that Permatex Hylomar...looks like great stuff according to its spec sheet. Although I had to run a file just slightly over the flange, if it's sealing surface was at all questionable because of age and pitting it will likely be taken care of by this product ( a gasket dressing not a gasket replacement)



Thanks again guys

Tim

PS Bob P. I am finding your website to be a watershed of technical info for many of the questions I have regarding my build going forward. When I picked up my 80% finished car last month the builder had not yet completed the build manual...