1953 Buick Thermostat Housing Bolt Torque Specs

[Guest TheDude]

After making some progress on the Buick by cleaning out the brake system and rebuilding the master cylinder and wheel cylinders, I hit a snag while trying to replace the leaking thermostat housing gasket. I snapped one of the bolt heads off and had to drill out the remaining piece. I think I may have over-torqued the bolts (and there may have been some gunk in the threads on the manifold).

Can anyone verify the proper torque for the thermostat housing bolts on a 1953 322 V8? I have both the 1952 and 1953 shop manuals, but I cannot find the term "thermostat housing," or a listing in the torque-specs for anything that seems close. They list 25-30lbs for the "water manifold," but that seems excessive if it were to apply to the thermostat housing. Around 12-15lbs seems more likely.

Thanks so much. My goal is to get this car to move under its own power in the next few weeks. I think I can do it, but I've got a time limit, and this thermostat housing is holding me back.

[old-tank]

This will get you close. Steel Bolt Torque Specifications Table - Engineer's Handbook

That should be a 5/16 bolt (never reuse old bolts!)

Willie

[Guest TheDude]

Thanks for the quick response and the link! That's a very helpful chart. It was a 5/16 / 18 bolt. I bought two new ones last night at the hardware store and they were a perfect fit. Except for being shiny, they don't really look out of place. I set them to 15 ft-lbs and that felt right. I also had to cut out my own gasket because they one that the auto places have never fit. The opening is a little too big and they have oblong shaped bolt holes, so they wouldn't even make a complete seal. It looks like Bob's Automobilia has the right gasket online, but it was quicker for me to buy some gasket material and cut out my own.