hey guys my intake is looking pretty good, ive eliminated lots of stuff, but i was wondering, there is, on my 79, a water passage line that runs from the front of the passanger side of the engine (heater hose feeder line) across the front of the valve cover, and it went to the egr vaccum control, since that is now removed, it is hooked to the thermostat housing, under the thermostats postion, i was wondering if i could plug the line, thus cleaning up the engine bay more, and keeping the hot coolant away from the fuel rail. what do you guys think?

 

plug away. There's nothing on that side of the engine that NEEDs coolant. The TB doesnt really NEED it. And I dont know if you're running the air regulator or not. If not then you definitely dont need the coolant lines.

 

Shady. i mention it in my Clean Up Intake sticky. even show plugs for you to use.

 

oh sorry fub, i read it but didnt catch that part. thanks guys.

 

You need to either keep the coolant bypass line or drill a 1/4" hole in the thermostat. If you don't do one or the other, when the engine is warming up, there are pockets that trap air in the head and behind the water pump. Before the thermostat opens, this air will turn into steam and start eating away at the head, timing cover, and block. I ran without either for years on my old 240Z when I began to have overheating problems. Upon removing the head and timing cover, the destruction was quite noticable. The bypass line or the 1/4" hole in the thermostat will keep the flow of coolant moving enough before the thermostat opens to prevent any problems. I drilled my thermostat so I could remove the line that runs across the front of the head, because it looks alot cleaner w/o it. I didn't even notice any slower warmups, either. I am not the only one who has had this problem. This is something learned from an old Datsun racer of yore!! Hope that helps

Aaron

 

just go down and buy the dress up kit from auto zone.. or ebay.. dress up your new coolent lines with the stainless steel mesh kit.. trust me it looks awsome and u will get looks every time u open your hood..

 

im looking mostly to get rid of unwanted heat buildup near the fuel lines, good to know aarang, i havent done it yet, but i shall drill the hole to prevent such danger

 

I don't have a thermostat in front of me at the moment... but it seems as tho there IS a small hole in the thremostat already... it has a lil studded ball through it... I'll have to look at a spare thermostat tomorrow.

Also... The head & timing cover are aluminum, which oxidize differently (less) than iron. Yes... the cast iron blocks do rust and pit... but the coolant ports through the head & timing cover should stay free from corosion & pitting for hundreds of thousands of miles.

On a side note to the same subject: hopefully everyone knows to use DISTILLED water in their coolant. Normal tap water contains minerals that increase the oxidation over time.

EDIT... on the subject of this thread... Shady, can you post a pic of the coolant line you are talking about? I can only think of the coolant line that runs along side the fuel rail @ the front of the head, then enters the Air Regulator, and back to the TB... crap, I'm used to my turbo manifold... I don't think the na is run different tho.

EDIT x2... sorry... midnight mumbling....

 

nismopick, you are correct, it is that line in front of the fuel rail. it controls the vaccum for the egr via the water temp. i removed the egr and dont want this line any more, i feel it heats up the fuel rail and can be eliminated. and yes i use distilled water for all thing on a car. the line that runs infront is now custom and strapped to the fuel line because it looked cleaner, and my other wasnt in very good shape. i used -6 aluminum fuel line.

 

That line worked great for supplying the water cooled center section of the turbo on my rear drive maxima.