Heater control valve cross-reference/improved part?

[jawn101]

Ugh. Long story short Clint and I FINALLY got 2100 back on the road today, thanks to DPI Josh finding me a clutch. Car has been down almost 6 weeks. Everything is running and working great. I hit the road after Clint takes off to enjoy myself, and I suddenly notice the engine bay is filling with steam. Pulled over and the entire compartment is covered in coolant. Everything dripping. Opened the bottle and it's bone dry. Added some water and it just dumps right out the bottom. It's dark now and I can't see anything or get under the car. Tow trucks were called.

I get home, and 30 seconds of triage turns up a heater control valve that has sheared in half. This was a brand new valve (no more than 50 miles?) from a nameless vendor. That's a whole other story.

Is there a common cross reference part for this that Napa or Autozone etc might have? Maybe one that's all metal and not junk plastic that will break after 50 miles?

Good news though: the motor did not overheat, thanks to sheer luck, and no real damage done other than to my pride.



This is a photo of the part I mean. That's my original one which I removed, not the brand new broken one.