Anybody running a RobertShaw Autostat inline

[Bonus Built Acres]

Was going through the misc shelf out back, I pulled this off a 37 or maybe 36 engine I sold a while back and this got left behind. were these fairly common? are they still used today or more of a novelty?
when I shake it I can hear a liquid inside (alcohol?) the nob adjustment says alcohol on it, kinda hard to read but a few pictures anyway.

 

[51 MERC-CT]

Not really a novelty but an early attempt in the development of thermostatic temperature controls.
I can recall when alcohol was the primary antifreeze being used.
And I am using modern Robershaw thermostats in my car.
The temperature control for the heater is controlled by it's own device.

 

[flatheadmurre]

Thermostat with adjustable temperature...wonder what that would cost if produced today..my guess is a fortune.
Nice piece of engineering.

 

[Bored&Stroked]

I've never seen one, but kind of cool! You should try it in a kettle of hot water and see if it still works - I'd love to know! Would be cool to have a couple of them on a original type of build - neat stuff in my mind.

It appears that it controls the temperature for the engine - and also for the heater (which is adjustable? Am I correct on that?

 

[flatheadmurre]

I thought the idee was to adjust the bellow on the side that is connected to the bellow opening the thermostat.
They should be connected with a small pipe.
I might be wrong.

 

[bettlesr]

I had a similar thermostat on my Model A until a month ago. It finally just wouldn't close. On mine, when I turned the knob on the side it put pressure on the bottom of the moving disc to force it to open at a lower temperature. Knob read low-alcohol-high.