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DOHC 170° thermostats

5K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  eschaider 
#1 · (Edited)
Custom 170° thermostats

Haven't been spending a lot of time on forums lately due to being busy with life plus the general insanity of 2020. One of my side projects that I have put on hold are the custom 170° Stant thermostats (Stant is the OE supplier, by the way). Since I haven't been producing them, and may not get back to it, I decided to let out the "secret" to anyone that needs one for their DOHC engine: a DIY project that costs around $20. They had been available for years online, sold by a certain vendor with a ridiculous mark-up, but I had been selling them much cheaper with details on the Cooling page of my website. The other ones, by the way, are exactly the same.

In any case, it's a cinch for anyone to build one on their own, and they are so inexpensive that even putting two together at once (keeping one as a spare) is a no-brainer. As long as Stant keeps producing the models needed, it's almost comical how easy it is: http://www.terminator-cobra.com/Ford DOHC 170.pdf

This was my "T-1", and the other two I sold are even easier! Any questions at all, feel free to shoot me an e-mail: joe@terminator-cobra.com.

Enjoy!
 
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#4 ·
Glad I could pass that along, hopefully as clearly and concisely as possible. No sense in paying $60+ for something on-line when anyone can knock it out for less than $20 in a few minutes time. The main reason I haven't been producing them is that I just had a machine shop turn the 56mm housing down to 54mm, but it was $5 each and I always had to run them 50 at a time. Even before I sold one of each 50, I was already in for about $500. The profits were really not much (only produced them to save enthusiasts some coin), and I donated the bulk of it to charity anyway. From here on out though, the "secret" to them is definitely up for grabs!
 
#5 ·
Very kind of you to share the “secret” and very much appreciated. Your write up and pics are excellent.

To be clear, your Termi-Stat page indicates the T-1 will fit all applications from the early 93 Teksid 4.6 DOHC cars on and is not limited to just the Terminator. Also assuming the Ford thermostat housing should fit the as well? All the best in this new world.

PS: Any idea how I could get it down to 160 deg for a racing application?
 
#6 ·
Very kind of you to share the "secret" and very much appreciated. Your write up and pics are excellent.

To be clear, your Termi-Stat page indicates the T-1 will fit all applications from the early 93 Teksid 4.6 DOHC cars on and is not limited to just the Terminator. Also assuming the Ford thermostat housing should fit the as well? All the best in this new world.

PS: Any idea how I could get it down to 160 deg for a racing application?
Correct, this was my "T-1" that fits plenty of other vehicles.

If I understand your question about the OE Ford thermostat, it sounds like you are wondering if the 170° disc fits in the original thermostat? I imagine it would since Stant makes that thermostat, but I never tried it since I always just used new components. Ultimately, I had the housing just machined down to the correct 54mm, but it got expensive. Since I have no desire to hand assemble all of these, churning out the DIY document for anyone wanting to tackle it on their own was the way to go.

As for a 160° version, your only option would be to use a MotoRad thermostat, but they are shorter than stock and don't seal the housing correctly. Then again, plenty of people have used them for racing without any issues. Always an option unless you choose to eliminate the thermostat altogether.
 
#7 ·
Due to my long, full open pull, on an aluminum block I'm committed to trying to maintain a fairly constant temp in the motor throughout the run. Preheating will be standard. I have never heard of the MotoRad brand and will be looking into it. Thanks Joe for getting back to us and all the best in this new world!
 
#8 ·
Just for reference, here are two comparison pictures of the MoroRad thermostat next to mine. You can see it's shorter, and the disc also has a smaller diameter for what it's worth. A buddy of mine in AZ uses one in his Kenne Bell '01 Cobra and it seems to work fine, so I imagine it won't hurt to try it out!

View attachment 171509

View attachment 171511

Also, the dimensions of the stock thermostat for reference:

View attachment 171513
 

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#9 · (Edited)
Wow, for a guy trying to walk away from all this your commitment to helping others is sure commendable! Many thanks for taking the trouble to show me a side-by-side comparison. I'll order both and will see how I can mod them for something suitable. I gather is not a simple as removing the heat motor from one and inserting in the other because of spring force and different dimensions. What is the make and model/yr for the Motorad to look for? The two links above kind of blew up but I can drill around to find a Motorad one.
 
#10 ·
Not to worry - I still have all the info handy, making it easy to share.

As for the MotoRad part number, it is 2028-XXX, with the 'XXX' being the designation for its temperature value (i.e., 2028-160, or 2028-170, etc.). They are easy to find by just popping the p/n in to a web search. I also seem to recall that you could get them through O'Reilly Auto under their "Murray" line. When it comes to parts, they pretty much are what they are, and nothing in them can be swapped over to anything by Stant or vice versa.
 
#11 ·
Finding 160 degrees is going to be problematic due to the focus on modern hi temp vehicles. Just about everything is 180 or higher. I found this 160 degree for a tractor. Probably will have to modify something either by machining the housing or tweaking the stat. Thanks for the point-out about the Stant catalog. Lot of good information in there. If we were OEM we could probably buy 1,000 single heat motor in any temp we wanted! :)
 
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