need a part, hard to find bivalve

[profquad]

Hey yall, just attempted smog, did alright on emissions (yayy) but failed the vacuum tube visual inspection. I have a pretty gruesome looking bivalve sticking out of the thermostat housing that's basically covered in silicon to make it work. Tried cleaner fixes with high temp epoxy to no avail.
Basically, one of the nipples on the bivalve is snapped off. The part isn't made anymore, and when I try to grab one at a pick-a-part, it just shreds into pieces on account of it getting super heated and cooled for decades.
I'm just wondering if anyone knows someone who manufactures parts?
Thanks!

[Dr_Snooz]

So the dirty truth is that the shops don't know what the vac lines are supposed to look like. They just saw something broken and failed you on that. Yeah, they could look at the routing diagram on the hood, but the odds are they won't. You can sneak through by getting something that more or less works and looks legit.

For instance, you could snap the plastic vac connectors off completely, fill the sensor with epoxy, sick a wire in it so it looks like a temp sensor, cap the vac lines and hide them. You'll likely pass that way, though I can't say how the car will run lol (probably fine).

You didn't hear that from me though. Maybe go to another shop that won't recognize you from the first time though.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and you'll do that because that part no longer exists.

[profquad]

Yeah, I'm probably going to just take it somewhere else.
For reference, this is the little bugger. Known only as "thermovalve"
I've found other ones that have a different orientation, but none like this.

[Dr_Snooz]

If you can make the other orientation work, then go with that. It's better to keep all the smog controls in place and working, but if you're in Cali or some other place with similarly benighted smog regs, then don't let something simple like that keep you off the road.