how to plug the small hole in thermo housing

[Edbert]

I have exhausted all means at my disposal to find a thermostat housing for a Windsor that does not have the small opening for the heater. That only leaves me with the option of plugging the one I have. Anyone suggest a reliable way of plugging it? Once the coolant is up to temperature it will have to endure significant pressure, and I don't want it to look like crap. Your suggestions and ideas are welcome.

If you are wondering why I want this it is because of not wanting/needing/having a heater, my electric water pump took care of the "other" fitting already.

 

[66HertzClone]

You should be able to find a hex head pipe plug to seal the opening. If you can find the hex head style they would be the best since they won't be sticking out.

 

[eleanor_350]

I think the small nozzle on the thermostat housing is for a bypass back to the water pump for water to circulate while the thermostat is closed. That way the water pump doesn't totally dead-head against the back of the thermostat. On a belt driven water pump the heater hoses actually come off the water pump housing and intake manifold. I've seen guys plug these two ports with pipe plugs when not running a heater.

This may all be different for an electric pump. I'm not too familiar with those.

 

[Pakrat]

Wouldn't that require him to actually tap the hole first then?

 

[bnickel]

yeah Edbert that is the bypass hose you are talking about and i wouldn't run the engine without one, personally

 

[Edbert]

You guys are right, it is the bypass outlet not the heater. My electric water pump has no provision for this or for the heater outlets though (living in Austin the heater is useless anyhow, I'll get plenty of warmth on those two cold days from the headers anyhow).

I was wondering about the lack of a bypass when the thermostat is closed, even thought of tying the electric motor to a thermostatic switch (like I did with my fan) so it would not run unless the thermostat was open. But mezziere said the pump will not be damaged in any way by back-pressure, I guess it has some sort of internal valveing.

Pak beat me to the next question, will I need to tap the outlet to accept the pipe-plug?

 

[eleanor_350]

Pak beat me to the next question, will I need to tap the outlet to accept the pipe-plug?

Yes, all of the outlets I've seen are made for a rubber hose and clamp. Be sure you use a tap for pipe threads. They're a different pattern than standard bolt threads.

 

[HistoricMustang]

Post deleted.

 

[HuKares]

You could put the heater hose fitting back into the intake manifold and run a piece of hose between it and the thermostat housing.

 

[fastback brian]

I threaded and used a pipe fitting, hex plug. use liquid thread sealer.

I suggest a 3/4" water restrictor instead of a tstat.

 

[a.vannoy]

I been considering using an electric water pump on my stang, do you run it on the street or race only?

 

[Edbert]

You could put the heater hose fitting back into the intake manifold and run a piece of hose between it and the thermostat housing.

That is a good and creative idea, but I've used both of the intake fittings already, one for the temperature sender and the other for my thermostatic switch. Here's a snapshot where you can see how cluttered it is getting, I'd like to keep it as clean as possible.

Brian, what is the advantage of the restrictor? I'd guess not backing up the flow and stressing the pump?

A, this is intended for recreational driving only. I'll probably take it to the strip someday once it is all sorted out. But primarilly it is for cruising around town on weekends, a road trip through the local hill-country, driving to the local hang-out/parking-lot/cruise-nights, and MAYBE driving to work once every other month on a really nice day. I estimate about 3,000 miles a year maximum.

 

[fastback brian]

electric water pumps should be just as reliable as a standard pump for street duty, Ive never had a problem with both the electric drives and electric pumps. They are at max flow anytime they are on and Im gonna guess atleast twice the flow of a standard belt driven pump at 3500 rpms. I dont use a t-stat but control the water flow using a restrictor. Fisrt time I filled up the cooling system with the moroso pump and fox radiator I had a gutted tstat installed, turned on the pump and coolant went shooting out the radiator fill hole. thats alot of flow but it needs to go slow through the engine and radiator to transfer heat more effectively. The only problem I have is getting the engine to warm up even on a hot day at a car cruise in stop and go cruising. Im looking into a thermostat controled fan relay box.

 

[Edbert]

Im looking into a thermostat controled fan relay box.

Can you see the switch I have in my manifold (the brass colored one on the right)? That is an off-the-shelf part for a 1990 Taurus, it is simply an on/off switch that is activated at 180 degrees. I thought long and hard about using it for my water pump but left it for just the fan instead since I was fearful of creating steam pockets in the water jacket.

 

[fastback brian]

you want the water pump on all the time,

there are alot of fan controlers out there that work just fine. I just have mine on the same switch as the pump, on all the time. Im looking into a variable controler that uses a temp sensor on the radiator to control the fan speed.

 

[fastback brian]

this is my 289 setup, simple and clean looking for what it is.

 

[Edbert]

The variable feature would be nice, but those probes that you wedge into the fins of the radiator are notorious for getting bad connections, particularly over time.