i was trying to put a thermostat in my a-12tt today and i managed to break 2 housings in the process, so no drifting tonight

the first i was putting in the bench clamp (to clean off old gasket) and i cracked it by doing up the clamp a little too tight, it was only a small crack which i thought wasnt right through, but i tried it on the car and it leaked

the second i had it on the car and was doing up one of the bolts that hold it in place and the whole corner where the bolt was almost cracked right off!,

so then i was out of spares and am now waiting till morning

thats my whinge for tonight, im going to bed, nite!

p.s. does everyone else always snap bolts and stuff all the time?, or do i just try to do everything up too tight?, i blame it on the 30yo parts of the car most of the time but maybe im just a hack

Thermostat housings are too weak, or some people don't know their own strength.

Hey 1200RC, don't you know those steroids will kill your libido? Impressing chicks by busting parts in your bare hands won't do you much good then.
Chris

sounds like your bit of a butcher if u keep breaking bolts

Don't use 30 y.o. bolts.

Get new ones

What's the problem with the bolts? It's not the age of the bolt, or anything else that you should wory about, it's the CONDITION.

I have re-used 70 year old bolts with no problems, & rejected NEW conrod bolts that didn't come up to scratch.

Hell, it's only a t'stat housing, you could almost hold it on with a rubber band.
Chris

Well that alloy is alot better than using ceramic!!

Go and buy a torque wrench and follow the torques specified in the service manuals.

You'll be surprised how how lightly many bolts are torqued.

Chris

um

6 attempts
4 thermostat housings
2 days
1 thermostat
and 1 busted thread in the head

i now have a thermostat in and sealed!

Mate ! Without being too pretentious, I think this little episode shows the importance of the light handed spanner twirl and some good ol` "feel" with your hands.
You should always remember "Tight is Tight & Broken is TOO Tight".

I`m not havin` a go at ya ,but I hope this piece of information,along with your recent component bustage,racks up a lesson for next time.

Oh and don`t worry, I used to be a consistent "bolt breaker". So i`m not just spinning a yarn !

Like dattodude said get yourself a Torque - wrench and then "remember the feel".
Yeh, sounds stupid, but you give it a go and see what happens.

Hope this didn`t come across as a lecture!

Good screwing