From: Ian on
Dear Folks,

The thermostat housing on a friends SP250 broke in two last week - on
examination it had clearly been cracking for a long time. They are
currently out of stock at every supplier he has tried so I am
wondering if anyone here could suggest anything which would fit. There
are easy, medium and hard bits to the specification ...

Easy: It's a bog standard thermostat - same pattern/size as a Herald,
for example. Round, and a shade under 2" diameter (going by the
gasket)

Medium: Two 5/16 UNF fixing bolts, 3" apart (so the gasket also looks
like a Herald one, just a bit bigger

Hard: The outlet is 1 1/2" diameter and comes straight out the top -
ie along the same axis as the bolts, and not out to the side. There is
a slight offset, but not worth worrying about as the radiator can be
shimmed to eliminate the need.

If this sounds vaguely familiar I'd be grateful for any hints about an
alternative part which might fit.

Ian

From: Dave Plowman (News) on
In article <1180300374.697752.173110(a)q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>,
Ian <ian.groups(a)btinternet.com> wrote:
> The thermostat housing on a friends SP250 broke in two last week - on
> examination it had clearly been cracking for a long time. They are
> currently out of stock at every supplier he has tried so I am
> wondering if anyone here could suggest anything which would fit. There
> are easy, medium and hard bits to the specification ...

Have it welded back together? It's not a highly stressed item.

--
*Money isn't everything, but it sure keeps the kids in touch.

Dave Plowman dave(a)davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
From: Ian on
On 28 May, 01:07, "Dave Plowman (News)" <d...(a)davenoise.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <1180300374.697752.173...(a)q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>,
> Ian <ian.gro...(a)btinternet.com> wrote:
>
> > The thermostat housing on a friends SP250 broke in two last week - on
> > examination it had clearly been cracking for a long time. They are
> > currently out of stock at every supplier he has tried so I am
> > wondering if anyone here could suggest anything which would fit. There
> > are easy, medium and hard bits to the specification ...
>
> Have it welded back together? It's not a highly stressed item.

We've though of that but a) it's light alloy, and pretty manky from
the look of the fracture surfaces and b) it comes out of the engine
sideways (the flange is vertical) and is joined to the radiator by two
very short hoses with the expansion tank in between, so although the
stresses may not be very high, it'll see a lot of cycles as the engine
moves relative to the chassis/radiator. Last resort at the moment is
fabrication, but it would be vexing to go to that trouble and then
find that the housing from a Sprogget and Walmsley was a direct swap
and readily available ...

Ian

From: Dean Dark on
On 27 May 2007 14:12:54 -0700, Ian <ian.groups(a)btinternet.com> wrote:

>Dear Folks,
>
>The thermostat housing on a friends SP250 broke in two last week -

A friend of mine with an SP250 under restoration (for the past 15
years, but that's another story) suggested eBay first (he says he has
tracked down virtually everything he needed so far there). Next is
David Manners in the UK - he bought a windscreen from him.

My friend also needs a set of hood sticks for his car, among many
other things...?
From: Ian on
On 30 May, 01:12, Dean Dark <ddr...(a)comcast.notthis.net> wrote:
> On 27 May 2007 14:12:54 -0700, Ian <ian.gro...(a)btinternet.com> wrote:
>
> >Dear Folks,
>
> >The thermostat housing on a friends SP250 broke in two last week -
>
> A friend of mine with an SP250 under restoration (for the past 15
> years, but that's another story) suggested eBay first (he says he has
> tracked down virtually everything he needed so far there).

Not an SP250 thermostat housing to be seen! And yes, everything is
there, just about. A Well Known Journalist is well on the way to
building an entire Dart from eBay bits ...

> Next is
> David Manners in the UK - he bought a windscreen from him.

Out of stock at the moment.

Ian