weird thermostat housing fitting leak

[phaques]

Just replaced lots of cooling system stuff, and have found a small little 90deg elbow fitting coming out of the bottom of the thermostat housing that appears to have no other way of attaching to the housing other than by simply slipping in to the housing - little metal pipe section about 1/2" long slides into a hole in the bottom of the housing....and I don't see why it won't just slip out at some inopportune moment as well.
Attached to the fitting is an approximately 3/4"OD coolant hose, secured in place by a nice and tight hose clamp, but this fitting that the hose is clamped to seems (again) to connect to the underside of the housing by simply sliding into the housing. No O-ring that I can see, nothing broken, no fasteners of any type...
Is this simply a design flaw? Is there a workable fix other than replacing the housing (and more elegant that going to town with my aircraft safety wire and pliers)?
Weird. Maybe I'll take some photos, if nobody recognizes what I'm talking about.

Fax