Shutter Thermostat Rebuild

[Ovalrace25]

Who has done a rebuild of a shutter thermostat? I have Cadillacs, Lincoln and Packard to deal with.. Have the 25 Lincoln apart now.

I will send it out to someone that knows what to do.. If I get a fantastic recomendation..

I sent it out it 2006 and it worked until this summer.

[Friartuck]

I rebuilt the shutter thermostat for my '30 model L 10+ years ago myself with no problems. Ensure the bellows and housing doesn't have any leaks. I used a bright light test method to find the pin hole and repaired it by soldering it. I then did a leak down test at about 10 psi for several hours. Finally, the liquid I used was a dry gas product that included Methyl Alcohol. It is important to find and use Methyl Alcohol (wood alcohol) as the boiling temp is right (about 148 degrees F as I recall) for this application and you cannot use Isopropel (rubbing) alcohol. The dry gas I used was at a local drug store of all places, just check the ingredients. Fill the bellows/housing only half full, to leave room for the liquid to expand. I used a machine screw on the back (solder hole) with sealing washer vs soldering the hole shut. By making the fill hole with threads, it facilitated the leak down test. Test in a boiling pot of water several times.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Friartuck (see edit history)

[Guest Silverghost]

Friartuck advised me on this forum several years ago to try his repair method on my USA Springfield Rolls~Royce Phantom I .

I in fact found a small split on the brass thermostat bellows can. Metal Fatigue, age & a stiff shutter linkage was the likely cause of the split here .

I used Methyl Alcohol as he stated and re-soldered the small split in the bellows .

This restored my Rolls~Royce's old winterfront shutter thermostat to 100% working condition.

Thank's to Friartuck's repair advise my old unit is working fine !

New or reproduction themostats are hard to find.

Some reproductions are in fact made~~But only for some few applictions. These cost from $350-$500 ~~~ If you can in fact find one !

I believe somewhere on this site there are thread/post mentions of a person who also repairs & re-fills these themostat units .

Search: Shutter Thermostat, Winterfront Thermostat, Radiator thermostat, Rolls Royce thermostat etc ~

Good Luck !

[Ovalrace25]

Thanks Guys!

I will see if I can get the wood alcohol first then go for it!

[Guest Silverghost]

Jim Otto 1 865 9494

Repairs Refills & Calibrates these old liquid filled bellows style winterfront shutter thermostats~

[Steve Braverman]

Corvair thermostats are very similar, especially the 1960 version. They are available new and relatively cheap.

[Guest wombvette]

Jim Otto 1 865 9494

Repairs Refills & Calibrates these old liquid filled bellows style winterfront shutter thermostats~

Mr. Otto worked with, and I think retired from, the company that made them originally.

[yirgaman]

Steve, I heard this before about Corvair thermotats being a possible replacement, but I tried NAPA and several other parts houses with no luck - they didn't carry them, Do you have a suggestion as to what year Corvair would be best and where to get them? I had Mr. Otto repair mine and they've worked great since - But like everything else, someday they may need replaced and it'd be nice to have a backup.

[Steve Braverman]

Try Clark's Corvair Parts.

Clark's Corvair Parts - Clark's Corvair - Clarks Corvair Parts