Is there any way to eliminate the coolant crossover to thermostat housing hose?

[99COBRA2881]

Did you also port/blend the water passage opening in the block? There is a large mismatch at the block to the oil filter adapter housing.

I have a sohc oil filter housing on my dohc. It seems to work well enough, oil filter clears the mm k member. I also need to block off the bypass on the coolant crossover tube and on the thermostat housing. I don't run a thermostat on the car just a restrictor washer.

For the coolant passage behind the water pump I turned down a 1" piece of aluminum round stock into an interference fit plug and then drove it into the hole with some gasket shellac to help seal it up. Then in the back of the pass side head I drove a new freeze plug to block off the hole.

Fewer leak points and less to go wrong. Win win on a race car. Might even get lucky and improve cooling effiency by a few degrees.

 

[SlowSVT]

Did you also port/blend the water passage opening in the block? There is a large mismatch at the block to the oil filter adapter housing.

I sure did

Before:

After:

Block inlet

Evens water pump

bye bye boss behind water pump. Smoothed water pump output ports

 

[99COBRA2881]

Nice work. I remember seeing those pics over on modfords . com didnt realize it was your setup.

That mismatch would possibly cause the w/p to cavitate more than about anything else.

I need to do something similar on my block, even if it does nothing more than give me peace of mind.

 

[SlowSVT]

Nice work. I remember seeing those pics over on modfords . com didnt realize it was your setup.

That mismatch would possibly cause the w/p to cavitate more than about anything else.

I need to do something similar on my block, even if it does nothing more than give me peace of mind.

Whether this results in a reduction in temperature I cannot say but logic seems to favor that it will. It will reduce the pumping losses and allow for a higher volume of coolant to pass thru the engine. That in turn will reduce the likelihood of Cavitation at the impeller causing bubbles to form which is something you don't want air pockets forming in the cylinder heads which tends to burn things up but that should not be an issue anything south of 7-8 grand on the tach. Every bump, curve, sudden change in contour, sharp edge and small opening in the system will get turbulent which increases the likelihood of cavitation at the pump and creates more drag. Water is heavy and doesn't like to change direction. Making the passages bigger slows things down and less turbulent. Smooth/radii every place along the water path. Even the outlets on the back of the heads can get cleaned-up for better flow. This whole system is why I am comfortable under driving the water pump.

IMO you can never "overkill" on a cooling system. Heat is more of a contributing factor in engine failures then most people realize.

There is one cooling mod in the cylinder head I have found but I can't post pics because I can't get my camera inside the water jacket passages on the deck. This is something you can do if you ever take the heads off. A dremel can be used to open-up and smooth the coolant passages between the exhaust ports which is the hottest place in the whole engine. Don't touch the outside passages because you want to encourage the coolant between the ports and not around them (the outside already gets plenty of coolant). Our engine needs all the help it can get around the exhaust ports and guides which are exposed directly to the exhaust blast which is the main culprit of the dreaded "tick". This should help lower the temperature of the exhaust valves, seats and guides.

It kinda fun looking at all these technical aspects of an engine then address them like solving a puzzle............ as long as you don't do something wrong :nonono:

Cool hobby no doubt :rockon:

 

[Chris _Scott]

I eliminated the thermostat housing altogether and use a small drag racing radiator and have been able to drive in hot 100*+ traffic without any heating issues.

 

[SlowSVT]

Chris

Is that a dedicated race car? That Holly carb looks cool sitting on top of a DOHC mod motor (old school meets new school) :coolman: Can you link me to a thread detailing your engine?

In Florida with an aluminum block you could probably get way with removing the thermostat but not something I would recommend for a street car in colder climates and especially one with an iron block as they take forever to heat-up.

Not sure if your rad is sealed with the grill but I see huge openings on both sides. If not, plugging those openings would be a good idea.

What size coolant lines are exiting the front of the heads? One vendor is selling billet outlets with only AN12 (3/4") lines as compared to the 1 1/4" on the factory crossover. He claims it's not a problem but I would have some concern running such small coolant lines.

 

[RPM4DAZ]

I have an air to oil cooler on my sport trac street truck. But, I prefer to use a water to oil cooler for the Cobra. It helps keep the oil temp more stable and heats up quicker. I prefer to not run my engines hard on oil that is too cool it can be real hard on bearings and cam journals. Most remote thermostats also only have -10 ports or smaller. On a 7,500+ rpm engine built more for endurance running I run -12 hoses for the oil. The only restriction then is the oil journals through the block... I even opened up the ports as large as possible on the FRPP adapter to -12 ORB. Most of the accessible oil ports has been messaged also. Oil returns in the heads have been opened to 1/2" down through the block then honed. Canton windage tray has been modified with dams to block return ports from crank windage. There are two full length walls running below crank and windage tray to reduce oil slosh up in top of the pan also. Low spots in heads have been filled with block filler to promote drainage. Oil Baffles built over valve train to reduce vapor from breathing tubes off of cam covers and promote spring cooling. Jesel lash adjusters to reduce the need of oil in adjusters and promote oil to cam journals. Slight relieving of oil journals at cams to promote flow to journals. Similar as done to crankshafts in racing... I probably have a tendency to over think or modify things to most people, but it keeps me out of trouble... That is why the 1" diameter hose for water removal from back of heads. Enough flow to make a difference and help with heat control. But not enough to take away from the radiator doing its job.

 

[snakeraper11b]

I have an air to oil cooler on my sport trac street truck. But, I prefer to use a water to oil cooler for the Cobra. It helps keep the oil temp more stable and heats up quicker. I prefer to not run my engines hard on oil that is too cool it can be real hard on bearings and cam journals. Most remote thermostats also only have -10 ports or smaller. On a 7,500+ rpm engine built more for endurance running I run -12 hoses for the oil. The only restriction then is the oil journals through the block... I even opened up the ports as large as possible on the FRPP adapter to -12 ORB. Most of the accessible oil ports has been messaged also. Oil returns in the heads have been opened to 1/2" down through the block then honed. Canton windage tray has been modified with dams to block return ports from crank windage. There are two full length walls running below crank and windage tray to reduce oil slosh up in top of the pan also. Low spots in heads have been filled with block filler to promote drainage. Oil Baffles built over valve train to reduce vapor from breathing tubes off of cam covers and promote spring cooling. Jesel lash adjusters to reduce the need of oil in adjusters and promote oil to cam journals. Slight relieving of oil journals at cams to promote flow to journals. Similar as done to crankshafts in racing... I probably have a tendency to over think or modify things to most people, but it keeps me out of trouble... That is why the 1" diameter hose for water removal from back of heads. Enough flow to make a difference and help with heat control. But not enough to take away from the radiator doing its job.

You need to start a full blown build thread and share this work of art with the community!

 

[SlowSVT]

You need to start a full blown build thread and share this work of art with the community!

+1

Always nice to hear what innovative people are doing. I have some similar mods but it doesn't belong on this thread.

 

[RPM4DAZ]

Well, I would love to share a few pics, but I was an idiot and didn't burn to a cd or anything and had a hard drive crash big time. Maybe when I get another job and get caught up I can pull everything out and get back to work. I will make sure to document everything...

 

[SlowSVT]

Well, I would love to share a few pics, but I was an idiot and didn't burn to a cd or anything and had a hard drive crash big time. Maybe when I get another job and get caught up I can pull everything out and get back to work. I will make sure to document everything...

That sucks

Having been laid-off 3 times in three years with an average wait of 8 months between jobs I feel your pain. I sent out an average of 400 resume's each time but never got discouraged. Those clowns in Sacramento are wrecking this place. I put down the wrenches during my stints of unemployment.

I work in the engineering field and we are always the first to go. Let me know via a PM if you need any advice or sources.

Russ :beer:

 

[-venom-]

I eliminated the thermostat housing altogether and use a small drag racing radiator and have been able to drive in hot 100*+ traffic without any heating issues.

Any more info or pics on your setup?