Ok, really not sure this belongs in the Mustang tech section and since I already have the tech ideas pretty much thought out, I'm posting here.
Back Story... Ok, my friend calls me to change the thermostat on his 91 caprice.. I know, starting off with a Cheby, bad news already.
We get to my house and find out he doesn't have the parts, ok, go to work, get the parts, come home. Start taking off the nuts to the thermostat housing. One comes off nice and dandy, other one, not so much. Spray it with penetrating oil, let it set for about 15. Try again. No dice, try w/breaker bar to break loose... = broken stud. 
Ok, here's where the fun begins. Do we A. Get a screw extractor and see if it'll back out, or B. Drill the hole and heli-coil it. Answer... A.... Now problem.. get drill bit and easy out.. easy out breaks off the tip in the hole. Now we're stuck with an hardened, undrillable peice of metal inside a stud broken off on a 2-bolt housing.
We tried drilling around it, grinding the bit out, trying to shatter it with a punch, no deal. (3 so far 
)
Dad works at a machine shop and told me that when they break off a tap or an easy out in alluminum... they junk the part (4) Ok, what's a new manifold cost... roughly around $80 here. And friend does not have the dough, nor the time to pull the manifold. So, being the Texan folks that we are, we've decided to resort to the time honored practing of "farm'mechanics" or known elsewhere as "riggin' it". 
Here are the ideas... first one was to make a bracket that tied in to the remaining hole on the housing, and an accessory mounting point about 2" in front of that, which would put pressure on the other side. (Think triangle, press on two ends, the third goes down too) Then use another bracket to mount to an intake bolt and cinch it down. Bear in mind there would be a total of one fasterner actually holding the housing on.
Now, i was at work and came up with another idea. If the mounting surface is screwed, why not make a new surface? We have some pot metal plate that we were making brackets out of, and I thought that if we made a template out of the gasket, but left one bolt hole closed, we could (bear with me) glue it to the manifold with JB Weld. Ok, here's how I think this is better. We JB Weld a nut where the other hole should be, mill out the housing a bit and set it down over it. This way we have two mounting holes. (Did everyone follow that?)
Dad seemed to improve this idea, he said make a 1/2" spacer with same idea, but instead "make" a stud out of a bolt and press it in where the other hole would be, this way there isn't as much rotational torque on the spacer. And we could machine a mounting flange for the thermostat it in (alluminum).
Now the long awaited question... do y'all think JB Weld would work enough to hold that spacer down on the manifold? It should be water tight right? I know, I know, this isn't the right way to do stuff, but it's what the owner wants to do. Dad won't let me weld it on because he believes that the manifold will warp (and I'm inclined to agree). So will JB WEld work? Should I use Epoxy? Or am I just blowing this way out of control and will one bolt and a good amount of silicone be enough to hold it in?
Any comments, suggestions, feelings of pity (for either our situation or our poor poor souls for thinking of this abomination) are welcome
The Swede
Back Story... Ok, my friend calls me to change the thermostat on his 91 caprice.. I know, starting off with a Cheby, bad news already.
We get to my house and find out he doesn't have the parts, ok, go to work, get the parts, come home. Start taking off the nuts to the thermostat housing. One comes off nice and dandy, other one, not so much. Spray it with penetrating oil, let it set for about 15. Try again. No dice, try w/breaker bar to break loose... = broken stud. Ok, here's where the fun begins. Do we A. Get a screw extractor and see if it'll back out, or B. Drill the hole and heli-coil it. Answer... A.... Now problem.. get drill bit and easy out.. easy out breaks off the tip in the hole. Now we're stuck with an hardened, undrillable peice of metal inside a stud broken off on a 2-bolt housing. We tried drilling around it, grinding the bit out, trying to shatter it with a punch, no deal.
(3 so far )Dad works at a machine shop and told me that when they break off a tap or an easy out in alluminum... they junk the part
(4) Ok, what's a new manifold cost... roughly around $80 here. And friend does not have the dough, nor the time to pull the manifold. So, being the Texan folks that we are, we've decided to resort to the time honored practing of "farm'mechanics" or known elsewhere as "riggin' it". Here are the ideas... first one was to make a bracket that tied in to the remaining hole on the housing, and an accessory mounting point about 2" in front of that, which would put pressure on the other side. (Think triangle, press on two ends, the third goes down too) Then use another bracket to mount to an intake bolt and cinch it down. Bear in mind there would be a total of one fasterner actually holding the housing on.
Now, i was at work and came up with another idea. If the mounting surface is screwed, why not make a new surface? We have some pot metal plate that we were making brackets out of, and I thought that if we made a template out of the gasket, but left one bolt hole closed, we could (bear with me) glue it to the manifold with JB Weld. Ok, here's how I think this is better. We JB Weld a nut where the other hole should be, mill out the housing a bit and set it down over it. This way we have two mounting holes. (Did everyone follow that?)
Dad seemed to improve this idea, he said make a 1/2" spacer with same idea, but instead "make" a stud out of a bolt and press it in where the other hole would be, this way there isn't as much rotational torque on the spacer. And we could machine a mounting flange for the thermostat it in (alluminum).
Now the long awaited question... do y'all think JB Weld would work enough to hold that spacer down on the manifold? It should be water tight right? I know, I know, this isn't the right way to do stuff, but it's what the owner wants to do. Dad won't let me weld it on because he believes that the manifold will warp (and I'm inclined to agree). So will JB WEld work? Should I use Epoxy? Or am I just blowing this way out of control and will one bolt and a good amount of silicone be enough to hold it in?
Any comments, suggestions, feelings of pity (for either our situation or our poor poor souls for thinking of this abomination) are welcome
The Swede
Yeah I though so well then no it won't hold sorry. Just weld it on. I would. LOL
