The controversial thermo

[Fredb_]

At the risk of starting a firestorm, I thought I'd give an update on my 81A rebuild. After getting the motor in the car with my new Skips water pumps, I found I didn't have hoses that would allow me to utilize the Robert Shaw thermostats that were on the shelf. I went ahead and ran the car a hundred miles or so without stats. The motor would really never come up to temperature, so I decided to get a different hose setup and try the stats. I got a fancy stainless set from Speedway which I had to cut down to get them to fit. After testing in hot water and calculating expansion, I clamped them in the hose with adequate space below to open and gave then a run. The motor appears to come up to operating temp and hold. I've just driven it a little around town in cool weather, so it is not conclusive, but looks promising.