Cool-View Posted January 31, 2012 Report Posted January 31, 2012 I just Joined and thought I should say hello, I joined for a few reasons. 1 is I wanted to respond to some questions about a thread I started over on the HAMB about a floor shifter I made for the selector transmission. The second is I do work on my brothers 51 Cranbrook from time to time and come here for answers which I often find. The last is I build viewable thermostat housings that fit these early mopar. My brothers 51 has one of the viewable thermostats on it. And I hope to contribute some good tech info from time to time. Here are a couple pictures of my brothers 51. Its a 60,000 mile car that has been in the family from day one and is in very good condition. Quote
Don Coatney Posted January 31, 2012 Report Posted January 31, 2012 Novel idea on the thermostat. Where are you located? Quote
Cool-View Posted January 31, 2012 Author Report Posted January 31, 2012 I live in Washington known as Wrustingtin because of all the rain we get. Just north of Portland Or. Quote
deathbound Posted January 31, 2012 Report Posted January 31, 2012 Welcome. The viewable thermostat is very cool. Any problems with it leaking......expansion/contraction? Quote
yourpc48 Posted January 31, 2012 Report Posted January 31, 2012 Welcome neighbor. I was just in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. I looked at your pics before I read your post and noticed the clear housing. I love it. Very cool. Quote
chopt50wgn Posted January 31, 2012 Report Posted January 31, 2012 Welcome............that is a cool idea................do you use a regular gasket or is it an O-ring? Quote
Chester Brzostowski Posted January 31, 2012 Report Posted January 31, 2012 Welcome from Northern Virginia. Chet... Quote
Mark D Posted January 31, 2012 Report Posted January 31, 2012 Nice idea - that sure is some clean coolant. Curious to know what the tube material is made of. (Pyrex? Lucite? Lexan?) Quote
Cool-View Posted February 1, 2012 Author Report Posted February 1, 2012 Thanks for the warm welcome. Wow, lots of questions about the Cool-View. I'll give you the run down. The glass tube is made out of borosilicate glass commonly known as PYREX®. It is actually boiler site glass rated at 150PSI at 500F and it stays clean. I use special Buma-n seals at each end with high tach high temp adhesive on both sides to seal the glass to the aluminum ends. It uses a standard off the shelf thermostat. The spacers are precision machined to put the correct preload on the seals. the decal is made from ground glass and fired on at 1000f and that fuses it to the glass tube. They come fully assembled and ready to install. I even pressure test every one before it goes out the door. I have never had one come back because it leaked. When I started making the MOPAR version of these I did some checking and found out the following information. Which is handy to have but may be more than you want! There are essentially two different water outlet bolt patterns used by all Chrysler engines from 1924-2003. One is the older large size with a center to center bolt pattern of 3.25 inches. This pattern was used on all v8 engines from 1951 to 1978 and all flathead 4, 6 & 8 inline engines back to 1924. The thermostat diameter is 2.49 inches for this size housing. The other water outlet bolt pattern is 2.875 inches. This pattern was used on all slant 6 engines and the newer small block engines made after 1978. The thermostat diameter is 2.125 inches for this size housing. All flathead 4, 6, 8 inline, Slant 6 and V8s made before 1979 use 3/8 inch bolts. V8 Small block engines 1979 and newer use 5/16 inch or metric size bolts. Things get more complicated. Even though the 3.25 pattern is the same for all v8s from 1951-1978 many of the 1950s water outlets have bypasses built into the housing. This is also true of most of the flathead 6 & 8 inline engines. If you plan to change to a different water outlet on these engines it is important to know what the bypass did and is changing to a non bypass water outlet going to have an adverse effect. Bypasses are used on these engines mostly to keep from having hot spots in the cooling jacket as the engine comes up to temperature because the bypass recirculates the water in the engine. They are also used were the winter temperatures are very cold so the heater warms up faster. In addition some of the thermostats were constructed to work in conjunction with the water outlet’s bypass and use a different size Thermostat. Most of these thermostats are 2.55 inches in diameter. Some of the small block v8 aftermarket manifolds have both the 2.875 and the 3.25 bolt patterns which allow you to use either size water outlet. Also not all water outlets use the same size radiator hose. The 3.25 bolt pattern is also the same as Chevy. Quote
mackster Posted February 1, 2012 Report Posted February 1, 2012 welcome to the best little mopar forum on earth! awesome thermostat idea! and I would keep my ear open in regards to the transmission shifter you made! awesome stuff! Quote
ptwothree Posted February 2, 2012 Report Posted February 2, 2012 "They come fully assembled and ready to install. I even pressure test every one before it goes out the door." Welcome to the best mopar forum on the net.....Btw, how many $$$'s do you get for one of these?? Quote
Cool-View Posted February 2, 2012 Author Report Posted February 2, 2012 The Mopar units are $140 plus shipping. There is lots of info on my web site and you can buy them there. Thanks for asking. Quote
49 Dodge Dude Posted February 2, 2012 Report Posted February 2, 2012 Very cool idea on the thermostat housing. I'd be interested, but my car is a '49 Dodge Coronet with the flathead 6, and I wouldn't want to create any cooling issues by using one. Sweet though! Quote
GaryPrice Posted February 3, 2012 Report Posted February 3, 2012 I live in Washington known as Wrustingtin because of all the rain we get. Just north of Portland Or. My dad's got a '48 Ford F1 that started life in Washington State. How long it was there, I don't know. I've never seen a more rust free body. Absolutely zero rust in the original cab or anywhere in the bed. It definitely wasn't garage kept. What it lacked in rust, it made up for in dings. When he got it, the hood looked like kids had used it for a trampoline. Quote
Cool-View Posted February 3, 2012 Author Report Posted February 3, 2012 My dad's got a '48 Ford F1 that started life in Washington State. How long it was there, I don't know. I've never seen a more rust free body. Absolutely zero rust in the original cab or anywhere in the bed. It definitely wasn't garage kept. What it lacked in rust, it made up for in dings. When he got it, the hood looked like kids had used it for a trampoline. It probably came from the East side of the state. the East side is divided from the West side by a ridge of mountains. They stop most of the water from getting to the East side. You can find some very nice rust free cars on the East side of the state. Quote
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