Thermostat housing w/ a temp sensor?

[Shad4130]

After a great summer of enjoying my 51 wagon I had it over heat on me the other day heading to the post office.
Not sure of the exact cause of the overheating issue but I decided I needed to throw a temp gauge in the rig since I’ve been running it without one. Where the temp sensor would normally go on my F engine there is a bunch of stuff Coming out of it That hooks up to a heater in the backseat of the rig. I was wondering if anybody knows If there is a thermostat housing for a 51 F head engine that has a temp sensor with it?

 

[Greaser007]

God forsaken over-heating issues can drain the brain. Stretched head bolts and blocked coolant passages or plugged radiator. Thermostat ?

I don't know why a guy couldn't drill and tap for a sensor unless a bung is needed for strength.

As an experiment, you could maybe get away with drilling a hole in the housing, then taking a threaded adapter, and mig weld it to the housing.
I have mig welded some stuff to cast direct, and couldn't knock it off with a 22-oz hammer.
Probably most welder's would simply braze the adapter to the housing.

Keep us posted on your entertainment.

 

[Jay]

Could you not have a radiator shop install a port on your radiator ?

 

[Joe B]

Not sure what you need for the specific sensor thread and the radiator hose inside dimension, but you could likely find or fabricoble something along these lines:

 

[spike53]

I installed a tee in-line with the heater core hose outlet on the head and added in a combo pressure and temperature gauge. It won't give the final temperature of the coolant as it heads out to the rad but it's close enough while I still don't know if I can trust my dash gauges.


It's not showing up in my order history but I am pretty sure it was this one. The pressure gauge is way higher than needed but it will confirm if my rad cap is working correctly.

 

[53WLLYZ]

After a great summer of enjoying my 51 wagon I had it over heat on me the other day heading to the post office.
Not sure of the exact cause of the overheating issue but I decided I needed to throw a temp gauge in the rig since I’ve been running it without one. Where the temp sensor would normally go on my F engine there is a bunch of stuff Coming out of it That hooks up to a heater in the backseat of the rig. I was wondering if anybody knows If there is a thermostat housing for a 51 F head engine that has a temp sensor with it?

My bone stock 53 F 134 truck has 2 threaded holes on the passenger side of the cylinder head. The lower one near the coil in the attached picture is for the temp sensor and the upper one near the valve cover has the heater valve. I think that you could probably install a tee on the top fitting for both heater control valves and use the lower one for its intended purpose as the temp sender port. It would be preferable to use the tee for both valves and keep the temp sender in its stock location.
I really don't like drilling and tapping a standard thermostat housing for the temp sender as the casting is too thin to get the recommended 3 full threads.

 

[RV Aych]

I really don't like drilling and tapping a standard thermostat housing for the temp sender as the casting is too thin to get the recommended 3 full threads.

Might it be possible to braze or use silicon bronze rod to weld a threaded bung in place after drilling the hole? Or perhaps it wouldn't be too difficult to fabricate a spacer block with a threaded hole in it for the temp sensor.

 

[53WLLYZ]

Might it be possible to braze or use silicon bronze rod to weld a threaded bung in place after drilling the hole? Or perhaps it wouldn't be too difficult to fabricate a spacer block with a threaded hole in it for the temp sensor.

View attachment 155469

Either of those approaches would work but it would be simpler to use standard pipe fittings (i.e. a tee and a close nipple) to mount the shutoff valves for both heaters in the existing upper threaded hole in the head. A spacer block would require a second gasket as well and probably longer bolts.

 

[diggerG]

Either of those approaches would work but it would be simpler to use standard pipe fittings (i.e. a tee and a close nipple) to mount the shutoff valves for both heaters in the existing upper threaded hole in the head. A spacer block would require a second gasket as well and probably longer bolts.

Here is your solution right in front of you.
diggerG

 

[FinoCJ]

Might it be possible to braze or use silicon bronze rod to weld a threaded bung in place after drilling the hole? Or perhaps it wouldn't be too difficult to fabricate a spacer block with a threaded hole in it for the temp sensor.

View attachment 155469

FWIW - I tried using a pre-made spacer block like shown above with a temp sensor for my electric fan, and the temp sensor protruded out into the water passageway enough that it interfered with the thermostat.....(also note all this is on a sbc)

I ended up with something like this - where the temp sensor port was in the top of the thermostat housing so that it did not interfere with the thermostat - granted, this means the temp sensor may not read as accurate when the thermostat is closed: