Engine is all together and im working on the finishing touches before installing it in the car. 215 block with 300 crank, heads, and intake manifold. I will be using a pressurized expansion tank. the large hose going to the water pump neck and the small hose going to the top of the radiator. in the event of overheating the overflow hose is routed to a secondary catch can. bypass hose will be hooked up like normal from the back of the water pump to the thermostat housing. im using an aftermarket coolant temp gauge so the factory sensor port will be plugged. that leaves me with the heater feed port on the back of the manifold. where does the heater return normally connect to? all i see is a 1/4 npt port on the top of the water pump. i was considering making a block off plate for the rear heater port, but became concerned that it might alter the flow of the coolant. i would hate for it to stagnate and create a hot spot. so i am looking for suggestions on how to properly remove the heater circuit from the engine.
Plug the port at back of intake. Coolant flows from front thru block then up into heads then forward to thermostat. So plugging at rear of intake wont affect flow. As in the left side has nothing .
I have an NOS rear manifold heater hose fitting for a heater delete car, so, the casting looks normal but the hole isn't drilled out. I always wonded how the manifold got up to temp without water flow since there is no exhaust port on the aluminum headed engines on a heater delete car.
i ended up using a thermostat housing from a sbf based on a recommendation i received here. it was not a direct fit by any means and required a little voodoo to get everything to seal properly. it also left me with a less than desired outlet angle. But it was the closest thing i could find after my old pitted thermostat housing turned to goop when i tried to tig weld it. i will have to use one of those accordian looking flex hoses if i cant find a vulcanized one that is in the contour i need. but seeing as how it has to go up over the valve cover. it might be smart to put an aluminum adapter with a bleeder port in it, due to creating a high point in the system. Phil, after reading your reply and looking at the design of the manifold i am wondering the same thing. since the rear coolant ports in the head/manilfold and heater port in the rear of the manifold are blocked off, all the flow would be in the front of the manifold. I dont mind losing the manifold warm up function since i live in socal and this car is a weekend racer that probably wont ever see a cold or rainy day. But i am curious if that stagnant coolant pooling in the rear of the manifold might create a hot spot? As of now, i have the expansion tank hose coming out of the waterpump and up and over the engine along the manifold towards the firewall where the tank will be mounted. I am thinking that i can Tee off that hose and connect it to the rear heater port. the only issue i see is that i would be returning non cooled coolant back to the water pump feed. But it might just all even out once in operation. i really dont know, thats why i come seeking answers here.
