This tip was bought to us by Pete Francia, a member of our facebook group. Thanks Pete!
It has been hard to find just the right thermostat when building or maintaining your motor. Many people say you don’t even need them. Which couldn’t be more wrong. The fact is the Thermostats on a Flathead are especially important. With the Flathead V8 having two water pumps the circulation of coolant is way too quick. Oddly they pumps are to efficient. Even with the large radiators the coolant doesn’t spend enough time in the radiator exhausting it’s collected heat. Now there is argument that many people with a fresh built motor don’t ever have any over heating issues and will tell you that you don’t need them. Sure, you have several things going right, but what happens when one or two of those things start going wrong. The Thermostat is kind of a backup system, that slows the water down and lets it spend more time in the radiator to cool before cycling. It is also added insurance for those super hot or super cold days. As the engine ages it need all the help it can get. So, this brings us to Offenhauser and most after market aluminum Heads. If you have ever tried to install basic thermostats in aftermarkets heads you will see that the fit is not always great. Some are to large and some are honestly to small. So, one of our members pointed out after trying a number of options that this set has the best fit. I hope this helps. Don’t let people tell you that you don’t need Thermostats. Best to have the added protection when you need it. An honestly they don’t cost much for piece of mind and better cooling.
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