is there anyone who can give me a little advice on install of a housing and thermostat on this car. i got the thermostat and gasket ect then started to tighten down the housing and a bolt "ear" snapped off the housing. did i have the gasket position wrong. i dont remember that there was even a rubber gasket when i took it off. but when i put it back on i was given one to use. and can i reuse the metal gasket that goes on the housing. does anyone have video or picture. thankl you for your time.

 

There is no rubber gasket around the thermostat for our cars, trying to use one will snap the ear off as you have mentioned. I tend to buy a new gasket when I change the thermostat since they aren't very expensive but I have heard of others reusing the gasket with success.

 

Yup did the same exact thing when I replaced my thermostat. I was given a rubber o ring and installed it and snapped the housing.
I was able to pick up a universal paper gasket for about $1 and it's been working fine

 

The thermostat is the same for the XJ40 and the X300.
The rubber ring is for the XJ40 (AJ6) and the thin gasket is for the X300 (AJ16).

I have several thermostat covers in my pile-o-parts with the mount ear broken. They can be welded but knowing the difference is the key to not breaking them in the first place.

bob

 

I was given the O-ring too and did a mock up before inserting the t-stat housing screws and it didn't seem to mate up good so I just used RTV on the housing. Still working 2 years later.

 

I re-used the metal gasket and just applied some permatex #2 on it just to be sure. No leaks a year later.