2001 GT Intake swap - Thermostat Housing Question

[vtvette]

Well the Intake Manifold on my '01 GT finally gave up at 155,000 miles. Oddly enough it failed where the heater hose connect to the intake manifold, not at the thermostat housing crossover (which is plastic on my car).

Anyway, I ordered and received a new Ford PI Intake from Summit Racing. It has the updated aluminum thermostat crossover pipe. I'm getting things ready for install tomorrow and noticed something - my old plastic intake had two metal sleeves pressed into the plastic intake manifold to locate the aluminum thermostat housing. The new Ford PI intake with the aluminum crossover has no such sleeves so, the holes int the thermostat housing are quite a bit larger than the bolts that hold it to the intake.

The ridge that seals the thermostat housing cover to the aluminum thermostat crossover pipe on the intake manifold seats perfectly. This leads me to believe it's OK to use my existing thermostat housing but, I would like to hear from someone who can confirm this.

Has anyone come across this before and if so, has it been an issue?

Old Manifold/Housing:
View attachment 131507

View attachment 131510

New Manifold/Old Housing:
View attachment 131513

View attachment 131515

Thanks,

 

[SRT Handz]

It will be perfectly fine.

 

[vtvette]

Thanks man for the quick reply and conformation.

I'm looking forward to finishing up this project tomorrow and getting her back on the road.

 

[sneaky98gt]

I think it should be fine.

My granddad's 01 GT manifold also broke on the heater hose nipple. One thing about it, when it fails there, you better be ready to stop, QUICK. It dumps the water out in a hurry, and all over everything...

 

[Deleted member 38176]

One thing about it, when it fails there, you better be ready to stop, QUICK. It dumps the water out in a hurry, and all over everything...

LOL it's funny you mention that. When we were dissembling my motor, my builder asked me what color I wanted to paint the black everything.....then he jokingly said, "How about we paint it yellow since half of it already is".

I cracked the manifold in that spot just a month earlier