Thermostat & Housing

Hey Y'all,
I am brand new to the Fish Nautique world, I just bought a 86 23". I noticed the engine was running cool (120). I took the thermostat housing off to find there was not thermostat. It is a square housing, i cannot find anything like it online. i need new gaskets and a thermostat. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Preston

Preston01 wrote: Hey Y'all, I am brand new to the Fish Nautique world, I just bought a 86 23". I noticed the engine was running cool (120). I took the thermostat housing off to find there was not thermostat. It is a square housing, i cannot find anything like it online. i need new gaskets and a thermostat. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Preston

That's a picture or 3 of a 351 Commander thermostat housing and cover.

Here's a picture from the Ski Dim website to compare to



Not too many Commander parts floating around any more.

You could do a Google search for "351 Commander thermostat" and see what comes up

Maybe somebody with a 351 Commander will chime in here with some more info

Thank you for the help. The lower piece of the housing where it bolts on to the intake manifold, the part where the thermostat will sit is square. Is that a issue? or will a regular thermostat fit right in?
Also any suggestions on a soak or cleaner to clean it up?

Hard to find information and parts for that old thermostat. Ha

I don't think he needs to go thru all that Pete, does he? Doesn't the thermostat sit in the housing just like the PCM one? More like this-



Not where Ford puts it. To clean it up I'd throw it in my blast cabinet,you may try a wire wheel if you have one.

Gary S wrote: I don't think he needs to go thru all that Pete, does he? Doesn't the thermostat sit in the housing just like the PCM one? More like this-

Yes it does sit in the housing like the PCM, but as Ken mentioned, if the diameter is off then an adapter would be needed.

8122pbrainard wrote: Take some measurements as Ken mentioned. The housing is square but the hole that the T stat fits into is round. .

woodyelc wrote: Your thermo housing was made by OSCO marine there part number was F-55 Should very be able to find one .

Woody,
I think what Preston really needs is the T stat rather than the actual housing but, using the "F-55" part number, I was able to link to a T stat. Looks like it's pretty common. Thanks.

Here's the T stat

Thank you for all the help. i was able to clean up the housing and get the rust and grime off of it for the most part. found a thermostat and got it put in place.
Ran into another issue, when i was taking off the thermostat housing from the intake manifold one of the bolts sheared off. Long story short i had to get a new manifold and got it mounted.
Everything is mounted back together like it was, the issue now is when i start the engine it will run for maybe 30 seconds or less and shut off. Then it is hard to crank back and then it will run for a second then cut off.
I gave it some throttle and it ran for 30 seconds and cut off.

Not sure what the issue is or what to do. Any help would be great.
Thank you.
Preston

You were able to find a cast iron manifold for a 351?

So your sure it's iron and not aluminum? I'm worried assuming your going in the Gulf......
Like Ken says you may have a leak,aftermarket manifolds can have issues with carb to manifold sealing.

Here are some pictures of my Fish.

Gary S wrote: Sharp looking!

Plus 1!

Thank you. And no not now, i have completely replaced all gaskets.