Syncro thermostat housing question

[Womboy]

Sorry to put this in here instead of in technical, but I hoped more syncro owners would see it and might be able to help!

Bit of an odd, very specific question regarding the cast syncro thermostat housing.

I'm finally putting my engine back together after far too long and have come up against a problem with the cast thermostat housing. When I took it off, the bolts were very tight to get out and one snapped in the head, so I bought 2 replacement bolts from VW with which to refit it. However, they won't fit through the mounting holes in the casting as there is a lip just inside the start of each hole which makes them too narrow for the M8 bolts and means they are just a little too tight to fit through. Seems a bit odd, they're definitely the right bolts... is there supposed to be a lip there or did I damage the holes somehow when removing the housing?

Really hope someone can help on this as it's one of the last bits to go back on before I can fire the engine up!

[Aidan]

originally they have captive bolts I think
I had to cut the head off the old bolt to remove the remains and then filed off the lip and corroded seat to fit new one, it worked ok
Julian has a nos housing for sale silly money should be able to talk him down though

[Womboy]

Hi Aidan,

Thanks for your response, glad I'm not just being a numpty then! When you say it 'worked ok', did it leak a bit afterwards or something? Also, by the corroded seat on yours, do you mean there was an insert in the housing, or just the rest of the bolt hole after the lip? I only ask as I couldn't see anything like that, or any remains of one in the hole.

Can I ask who Julian is on here so I can see if his price is too silly for me?! If it is, then I'll probably just have a go at filing the lip down and hope for the best!

[Aidan]

Julian is "billy739" aka billynumbers, it was on for sale
mine worked ok, had to nip it up a bit tighter than I wanted too as I'd filed a a fair bit off , as it leaked a little at first but with new o ring and tightened a bit stronger it was fine - the bolts on mine had corroded down the hole and under the head of the bolt, had to ream them clean after getting remains of old bolts out, had some of clives magic yellow chromate paste to hand for reassembly with the new bolts.

[silverbullet]

Sorry to butt in chaps - someone asked me (in a rather half-hearted way) about the possibility of remaking these for 1.9 and 2.1's as they were under the impression that they're on back order everywhere? Can't remember who, not one of the usual suspects.
Talked about cast alloy rather than plastic. (I'm not famailiar with DJ/MV or the like as I'm a Subaru fan and it's all I know in the back of a T25!) I have a good local-ish foundry who are good on small quantities and they have loads of stock cores they can copy/modify for other work if there's not a part to take a mould/pattern from. Can visit them Fridays as required.
Interested?

[Aidan]

2wd 2.1 ones are impossible to obtain at present even from classic, they are grplastic and have plug in switches with rubber o rings and clips, the syncro one has screw in switches and is cast and may have slightly different spigots but basically does the same job. 2 wd guys would have to get switches and mod the wiring loom to suit which would add £30 to the job for them
I would expect classic to have the 2wd 2.1 version remade they get enough requests, 1.9 version can be modded if you can plastic weld or add metal spigot successfully for the oil cooler feed