VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Thermostat Housing

Now that I live in Virginia instead of California I have found I need to install a thermostat to keep the engine warm enough to make the heater work well. I did a Christmas parade and the heater barely worked. I purchased a thermostat housing on ebay and was wondering if anywone had seen this kind before. It mounts up great but before I install it I wanted to find out more about it. It has a rectangular body that splits and the thermostat mounts to one side. There is a poppet valve beside the thermostat (about 1" in dia) that closes in the direction of flow (up). There is no spring so it will move freely with flow. I think it is to allow coolant to flow back into the engine when turned off. It has been bent to stop it from closing all the way. I can't figure out how to attach a picture so if you need to see it I can e-mail them to you. The two housing halves have the following part numbers on them. 3058255, 3058265. I am looking to find out if it ever had a spring and if the bent seat is for a reason (slight bypass when the t-stat is closed??). With a thermostat the flow could be completly stopped when closed. I would think a little bypass would help the t-stat sence when the engine temp changes but let me know what you all think.

Hey Subman! Long time no see! So, you are now living in Virgina huh? Interesting that you moved out of the Sunshine State (or is it called the Political State now?) ha ha! Anyway, glad to see that you are back on CC II.

You might want to pick up the complete set of 1931 Chevrolet Service News from the Filling Station. There are 12 issues of Service News in the set and the October, 1931 issue shows how to install the heater and it gives an illustration of how the two heater thermostat housings are installed. You might find it interesting.

Anyway, I have both halves of the thermostat housing, and the by-pass valve in mine has a spring to activate the valve as needed. My valve isn't bent either.

Hey JYD I do have the set of Service News I just have to dig them out of what ever box they are in. What side is the spring on? Is it on the bottom holding it slightly open or on the top helping it close??

The easiest way to install a thermostat is to use the normal outlet and install a thermostat like used on Chevy V-8s. You can sandwich it between two gaskets or just use one. Have do it on several '31-'32 engines.

Thanks Chipper I was going to do that but I would like to get this Chevrolet thermostat housing with bypass working if possible. After reading the Service News I see it works like I thought. If I can fix the disk and replace the spring I will be in business.