53 thermostat

[Doug26T]

What is the correct temperature thermostat for a '53 passenger car V8? It ha 180's in it now

[donald1950]

i am using 180s

[tubman]

I use 180's; they work fine with a system with no problems. That being said, if you have problems with your cooling system, changing the thermostats is not a cure. You have to understand how thermostats work; a 180 thermostat will allow as much water to pass at 190 degrees as a 160 thermostat (or a 140, a 100 or a -50).

[51 MERC-CT]

What are correct thermostats? Regardless of what thermostat someone uses, this excerpt from an owners manual for a car with an 8BA engine seems to indicate that the correct thermostat was 170°.

[G.M.]

I would say it depends on why you use thermostats. If you drive in cold
temperatures and want heat in the car then use 180"s. If you drive mostly
April to Nov. then I would use 160's. In 90 plus outside temperatures 180
stats keep the temp ABOVE 180 all the time and the engine temp can go
as high as it gets, stats don't do anything to cool an engine they just make
them run hotter. The other thing is the type of stats used. You want one's
with large flow opening which are the Robertshaw 330-160 or 330-180.
Other modern type stats have small flow openings and restrict the amount
of coolant allowed to flow through the system. More flow equals cooler
running. The hi flow stats are available from Summit Racing and hot rod
shops as well as Bob Shewman [email protected] G.M.

[mobileparts]

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180 degrees is considered the "all year round thermostat" from the years
we drove these cars 10,000 - 15,000 miles a year....
160 degrees was considered the summer stat -- for increased cooling ---
for the people who would replace the stat twice a year --
and then go with a 195 degrees for the winter time -- for increased ability to heat the car.....

Since we (most) no longer drive our cars in the winter -- and would prefer the ability to keep cars COOL -- especially in Parades --
Really -- just about everyone uses 160 degrees.... (makes sense)......

[CarlG]

As long as my engine is under warranty, I'll stay with the 180° thermostat that the builder furnished.

[Blu Dice]

And where do you buy a thermostat that doesn't fail after a couple weeks - I went thru 3 pairs - finally just removed the guts out of a pair. It runs too cool in the winter (yes I drive my car in the winter) and so far ok in this warm weather - 180.

[donald1950]

Stant brand

[Blu Dice]

Stant - failed

[tubman]

Originally Posted by Blu Dice

And where do you buy a thermostat that doesn't fail after a couple weeks - I went thru 3 pairs - finally just removed the guts out of a pair. It runs too cool in the winter (yes I drive my car in the winter) and so far ok in this warm weather - 180.

No offense, but I think something else is going on here. In the last 60 years, of all the cars I have had, I remember having only one failed thermostat. To have three sets fail in such a short period of time indicates to me that there may be some other problem that is causing the thermostats to fail. Or maybe it is something else going wrong that makes it seem like the thermostats have failed. Either that, or you are one of the unluckiest people I've ever heard of.