Jim -
All 6 cylinder healeys have the "bypass" port in the head, although your
understanding of the process is a little bit incorrect.
By blocking off the bypass port in the head, the sleeve thermostat allows
the head to heat up faster, allowing you to turn off your choke much faster
and getting the engine up to temperature much faster than with a standard
thermostat.
Once open, the sleeve thermostats work much better than modern thermostats
because the sleeve pops below the bypass port, helping to prevent hot bypass
water from cycling backwards into the motor rather than going into the
radiator where it should (esp. at idle when the water pump is turning quite
slow).
In addition, the sleeve thermostats have a significantly larger opening,
allowing much freer flow of coolant into the radiator.
Your healey is designed to use this type of thermostat and I would highly
recommend it. It will help your car run much cooler on hot days and keep a
much steadier temperature under most conditions. In addition, your car will
warm up faster as well. All around it will work much better.
I have one in my BJ8 in Hong Kong and I have no over-heating problems (very
hot and humid here).
Best Regards,
Alan
'53 BN1 '64 BJ8
On 10/16/05, JBHawkes@aol.com <JBHawkes@aol.com> wrote:
>
> Moss, in the current catalog, has an original-style thermostat ("early
> sleeved type thermostat" is their description) that they say "blanks off
> the bypass
> port when the engine is hot." Also, "The amount of water that is allowed
> to
> bypass the radiator with modern replacement thermostats is enough to cause
> overheating in marginal engines." They point specifically to early Jags
> and
> Triumphs as cars that have "large bypass ports and cooling can be improved
> by
> installing our reproduction of the original style thermostat." They don't
> mention
> Healeys as specific beneficiaries of the original style thermostat. And
> the
> price differential is considerable - $39 vs. $5 for a standard thermostat.
>
> Question: Do Healeys have a bypass that affects the cooling ability of the
> system? And if so, will one of these original style thermostats improve
> the
> cooling of a hot-running Healey?
>
> TIA
>
> Jim Hawkes
> BJ8 (the hot runner)
> 100M (cool as a cucumber)
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