Technical Ford C59 Flathead - Thermostat Installation

After scouring the interweebs, I ordered a set of thermo stats for my C59. Told the guys from Napa I was looking for a set for a 84-94 Subaru Justy (180F). They cross referenced these. They came with a “gasket”.
They look a little small, and I’m not home, but I hope they fit. My question, is there a preferred way to keep these seated?

 

On mine I have the chrome upper tubes between short rubber hoses to connect to head and radiator. I laid the thermostat on the head, and a short (maybe inch and a half) piece of exhaust tubing on top of that. The rubber hose fits over it all. A clamp to hold the hose to the head, and another above to hold the rubber to the chrome tube. The short tube is captured between.

 

^^^^^ This method is used by many and is how I will do mine.

 

Great! Thanks! Back home now, and just had to check things out. I’m probably over thinking this, but it’s the engineer in me. Took a few minutes to figure out what to do with the gasket. Finally discovered there was a groove on the inside of the gasket for the thermostat to sit in. Tried one of my leftover pcs of 1.5” copper tube, and it fit perfectly inside the gasket, but of course, its’ OD is too small for the ID of the hose. So, found a pc of leftover SS tube from my exh Y-pipe. It fits over the copper tube (loosely), but is a tight fit inside the hose. Will pinch the SS tube at the top to ensure the copper tube can’t slip by it, and secure the whole mess with a clamp as you guys suggested. Seems like a lot to mess with for a thermostat install, but I really want to add some despite many folks not running them on their flatheads. I can see why as it is a bit of a PITA.

 

I'd throw the gasket away, it only works for the Subaru application. I use a second hose clamp to keep the stat in place.

Dave

 

Not sure if there would be a decent seal between the gasket and the coolant outlet in thd head, but isn’t it better than just having the thermostat sitting on top of the head outlet?

 

Doesn’t matter if a couple little drops make it past the edge of the thermostat. You are using them to hold back the majority of the coolant until it reaches the intended temperature. Matter of fact, sometimes it is wise to drill a very small hole in the rim of the thermostat to allow air to get through to avoid trapped air in the system.

 

Yeah, I’ve read about that somewhere. Was wondering if I should do it as my rad is rear mounted with lots of copper piping.