With the process of getting the new engine connected, I discovered one item that had been previously overlooked. The stock thermostat housing exited straight up and would have caused the upper radiator hose to interfere with the turbocharger air inlet hose.  Obviously a solution was needed, and that solution turned out to be a custom thermostat housing that exited to the side.

In the left image you can see the original thermostat housing sitting on the rocker cover and the new housing installed in its place.

The CAD Model was based on a 2½” steel butt weld cap with a 1½” hose nipple, to match the radiator inlet, welded on tangentially.  To begin welding, the hose nipple was first welded onto the butt weld cap.

A simple weld jig was then used to locate the two mounting ears and the accessible surfaces of the mounting ears were then fully welded to the cap and nipple.

The cap weldment was then removed from the jig and the bottom surfaces were then fully welded.  The inside was blended to match the cap, and the bottom of the cap  weldment was flattened on the belt sander before it was returned to the weld jig for welding to the base.