I don't know how old the 160 degree thermostat is in my 49 216, it came in it and worked great when I got the engine running.
Later I changed over to a 180 to try and do away with cold weather condensation (I drive it year round) and it didn't help that and made the engine run hotter (naturally) so I put the original 160 back in. The engine never gets above the "8" in 180 on the gauge and hasn't lost a drop of anti freeze since I added the overflow tank.
The original 160 has the small hole in it and the new style 180 didn't.
I close my heater valve in the summer and it doesn't cause any heat problems.
Just and FYI.
Heres a
picture of the thermostats side by side. BIG difference...
At least as far back as 1946 the owner had a choice of the 160 or 180 thermostat.
Alcohol based anti freeze would boil out to fast with a 180 thermostat so people ran a 160. With those that ran ethylene glycol they were able to run 180's.
Now as to condensation. Even if we ran 200 thermostats there still would be water condensation.
You see when you put in air (nitrogen, oxygen) gas (hydrocarbons) and if perfect combustion happened out of the tail pipe the nitrogen would not combine with the oxygen and no NOX would be formed. If there were no traces of sulfur in the gasoline no sulfuric acid/acid rain would be formed. Then if all the hydrogen and carbon and oxygen would combine H2O + CO2 = Carbonated Water.
If you ran your car in Italy you would have San Pellegrino water coming out of the tail pipe.
So engines produce water as a byproduct of combustion so putting in a higher thermostat will not stop the production of water inside the engine.
Though a higher thermostat will better help to vaporize the harmful byproducts of combustion thus making removal of them from the internal areas of the engine improving crankcase ventilation and dilution and slowing the break down of the engines oil.
Also a warmer engine vaporizes fuel better. Un-vaporized fuel tends to condense on it's way to the combustion chamber, does not burn well, resulting in more gas getting past the rings into the combustion chamber, into the oil. As well as wasting fuel.
Jeffrey
