VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Upper Thermostat Housing Question

There is a bolt that holds the fuel line clip to the upper thermostat housing. Any idea what size this bolt would be and what type of head should be on it? Thanks

The one on my car is a hex head bolt. Check the threaded hole for the depth and pitch of the threads and then you will have the bolt size.

I don't have the car here it is at my other home in Florida so I am not able to check. I am 99% sure it was a clutch head screw and the thread was 1/4-20. I can't remember any of my son's birthday's but for some reason that seemed to stay in my mind. The reason I remember I had to go through everything on the car to get it running. I needed to find a clutch head screwdriver to get it off to remove the thermostat. It is a 1953 150 and has been in the family since new, in storage for the past 30 years and was never touched before that. I would doubt somebody else would have removed a hex head and replaced it with a clutch head. It only has 34,000 miles on it. It was the only car out of my Father's collection I had kept after he passed.. The car was pretty much in a vacuum since new, with a fantastic paper trail

mine has a slotted screw like the ones found on the oil pan and the push rod cover

Thats what mine has also.

Mine too..1950 Town Sedan.....25,000 miles all original

Yup, it's a stovebolt

I just took my 50 out of my mother-laws garage today (where I store it), the rain finally stopped, for about an hour. That one has slot head screw also.

At least I had the 1/4 20 part right.

I still think it was a clutch head on that 53 for some reason. I remember going crazy looking for a clutch head screwdriver in my Father's tool box to take it off

I found the missing bolt. The correct size is 1/4" 20 coarse. Mine has a 7/16" hex head. Because I had several different bolt styles from people that commented here, I plan on producing a special bolt that fits all three. I call it a Slotted Hex Clutch Head. Now you have three options of what type of tool you can use to remove it. Patent is pending.

the stove bolt or what ever you call is correct for the car. take a look at the pics you took to see how the bracket mounts the curved part faces down any questions call me

My 52 has the clutch head

I feel better I am not loosing my mind then

Just to add to the confusion, I checked my son's 54 yesterday and it was slotted! Checked a 54 engine that my Dad left in my garage 20 years ago, and that one is a clutch head screw (I have a photo of that if someone wants to put it up, I don't have the resources to do so).
Not that it matters but I wold love to know why it seems so random.

Perhaps they were just lost in the dirt like mine was last year. Looked and looked but could not find it, them my wife reminded me that I have a metal detector. Took me about 30 seconds to find it about 18 inches where I had seen it fall.