Early 66 Thermostat housing what kind?

[Nick Mesich]

I have an early 66 L79 corvette with the original motor, the car is a survivor and realy has had very little done to it over the years. I am in the process of a cosmetic restoration.

The current thermostat housing on the aluminum intake is all rusted. Is this original?
Did the L79 motor come with an aluminum housing or cast?

If Cast, what color was it painted at the factory?

Many thanks in advance,

Nick

[Joe L.]

Re: Early 66 Thermostat housing what kind?

Nick-----

ALL Corvette thermostat housings were CAST. It's just that some were cast of iron and some were cast of aluminum. The thermostat housing for your 1966 L-79 was cast of iron and of GM #3827369. It was painted with "aluminum" paint.

[Nick Mesich]

Re: Early 66 Thermostat housing what kind?

Thanks Joe for the quick response,

Looks like I'm off to buy a can of aluminum paint.

I would think that the housing was painted before it was bolted to the intake manifold?

Am I correct in this assumption?

[Joe L.]

Re: Early 66 Thermostat housing what kind?

Nick-----

I don't know if it was painted before or after installation. Many aluminum manifolds of the day were actually painted with aluminum paint, too.