Just my second post..hello everyone. Punching out the T-Sat is not a good idea and the oil will not heat to operating temp. As I am new at this forum I will just ask if anyone had ever tried side drilling the thermostat. Back when I was racing Mustangs we had big issues with the thermostats sticking or opening slowly which caused over heat and over pressure conditions. We started drilling a single 1/4 inch hole on the flat part of the thermostat which removed the pressure issue and was also helpful in removing hot trapped air which caused the thermostats to fail. The engines would run normally with a predictable heat up and would maintain the temperature consistently after that. I never had a T-Stat failure after doing this. Heaters also worked correctly and there was no loss of heat. Just throwing that out there.

Thanks,

Mike

 

the land rover thermostat comes with 4 holes drilled in the face to let air pass for bledding purposes

 

Ahhh..ok, did not know that. I will have to look at this mod a little closer.

Thanks,

Mike

 

I hate to bring up an old thread but I have one small issue with this mod.
I ordered the parts based on this page that discusses the mod.
Inline Thermostat - LAND ROVER CLUB V.I.

I decided to spend my Sunday completing the processon my 99 Disco 2.
So I tore into things only to realize that my disco is missing a vital part to this modification.



As you can see from my assembly I do not have the plastic splitter manifold thing shown in this pic.


I have not really looked at it too hard yet to see if I can make something work.
I thought I would check the nets first and see if anyone else has found a solution.

Obviously the thing to do would be buy the "tee"/"Y" thingy but so far I have not been able to find it on its own.
It is part of a $100 coolant hose assembly.
I would prefer not to do that if I don't have to.

Anyone have any ideas?

Sorry for the sideways pics. Photobucket really blows these days and I can't make them show up straight.

 

I had the same problem. I ended up just ordering a used lower hose assembly with the plastic 3 way splitter attached on ebay. Got it for around $30.

You may be able to modify the lower hose assembly you have to make it work. I just opted to replace it...

 

I also had to get one off ebay.

 

Well I think I figured it out.
Essentially I will just replace the factory inline thermostat with a hose coupler or hose mender as they are sometimes called.

This will keeps all the factory lower radiator, expansion and heater hoses in place but eliminate the factory in-line t-stat and the wye associated with it much like the other set up does.

I should then be able to make the connections in the top hose by making a few cuts in the existing hoses and one left over hose that used to be attached to the factory T-stat.

This also means that there is no need to purchase the BMW rad hose.

Its a little hard to explain so I will explain more with some pics once I get the part and get it all assembled.

This give me a good reason to ride my motorcycle in town to check the local Lowes before I order something online.

 

One observation - this inline thermo mod is sorta obsolete because you can now can get a 180° rover thermo from amazon. So, if you haven't already bought a bunch of stuff, you may want to take the easier route.

 

There may be a 180 degree factory replacement but I prefer a temp based stat rather than the pressure based system that the land rovers use.

I am not really here to argue about which is better but in my opinion this simplifies things.

Then to top it all off I do already have a bunch of stuff to do it this way so I am going to carry on as planned.

Anyway I said I would post some pics when I got the parts to sort out this mod for the early D2s that do not have the plastic manifold and I did so here you go.

I bought this piece from McMaster-Carr

It is stainless so corrosion will not be an issue but there was also an aluminum version available.
I got the one for 1-1/4 ID hose.
It is a little small but I think it is big enough to work.
This one cost me $27 but the aluminum one was only $16 and I found a stainless one on ebay for 5 or 6 bucks but I did not want to wait on it to ship so I had the one I got shipped overnight at work.

Anyway it fits where the stock T-stat was.
Like so...


With this you can skip the BMW hose that is needed in the other write up.

I have not worked on the upper hose stuff yet but I will either use the left over lower hose piece and the BMW hose I already bought along with the stock upper hose and fit it all together or I will go to the local parts store and find a suitable hose that has a suitable bend in it to make it all work.

As usual I will post up pics when I get there.

 

Very nice.

BTW, I used a dremel with a cutoff wheel to cut the shroud around the inline thermo. Worked great.