i installed a new thermostat on the 350sbc. how long before i can drive the car? there are no instructions that say wait before driving. the sealent says 24 hrs for full cure. i put a new gasket and waited about 4 hours other day and it leaked. so im doing it again. is there a fast sealer? do auto shops wait 12-24 hrs before starting the car?
normal paper gasket. i usually use blue but i dont have any on hand and used clear sealent. says it will work on packing. but ive never used it before on thermostat gasket. i usually never use a paper gasket at all just sealent
I normally vary the time depening on the amount of RTV I use. If I am plugging something or for something like and intake gasket I normally wait overnight. Like lluciano said, a thin amount shouldn't take too long.
I'd wait as long as you can stand to lol. Thermostats are fairly easy to get to. If its something hard or large I like to play it safe.
It sounds like you may have a warped thermostat housing. If it leaks again check to see if the gasket surface is flat. Most of those chrome thermostat housing warp easily. The stock ones are much better.
You must have another problem causing the leakage besides the RTV not curing enough. I never allow any time to cure, but rather fire'em right up and on to the next one. I do this six days a week all day long. HTH
i let it sit for 2 hours and just drove it. leaks gone. i never used clear rtv. seems to take less of the blue to seal as good. youre right bstmech i remember driving off after i replaced the thermostat before.
Clear rtv? Isn't that for bathtubs? If your housing isn't warped (lap it on a sheet of fine grit body shop sand paper) and you use a good quality gasket, it should seal without a bunch of goop. I do like to use a thin coat of ultra blue because it makes getting the gsket off easier for the next guy.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Hot Rod Forum
2.2M posts
175.6K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to hot rod owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about restoration, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!