Plumbing LS1 for rear radiator?
05-12-2008, 11:51 AM
#1
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Plumbing LS1 for rear radiator? I've re-posted this here with the hope of getting more responses.
I'm hoping you can help us out here. We've got an LS1 from a GTO going into a, err, thing:
Volvo portal axles, 40" tyres, extreme cup holders and heavy duty fluffy dice etc. etc.
Anyway, we're come to plumbing the cooling system in and are trying to work out what to do with the steam pipes from the LS1 heads, header/expansion tank etc.
The car is running a rear rad mounted up high behind the driver, but the coolant pipes from the block will have to sweep down and along the chassis before coming back up to the rad. This makes the steam vent pipes a bit of a problem as they want to go somewhere high so air can rise. Obviously it's going to be reluctant to bleed out against gravity.
Plan A is to have a header tank next to the radiator like a normal car, with a tee into the bottom for the steam pipe vent, which would run separate from the main coolant hoses all the way to the back. Does this sound reasonable/sensible?
We also need to know what size expansion tanks these usually run?
Cheers in advance!
I'm hoping you can help us out here. We've got an LS1 from a GTO going into a, err, thing:
Volvo portal axles, 40" tyres, extreme cup holders and heavy duty fluffy dice etc. etc.
Anyway, we're come to plumbing the cooling system in and are trying to work out what to do with the steam pipes from the LS1 heads, header/expansion tank etc.
The car is running a rear rad mounted up high behind the driver, but the coolant pipes from the block will have to sweep down and along the chassis before coming back up to the rad. This makes the steam vent pipes a bit of a problem as they want to go somewhere high so air can rise. Obviously it's going to be reluctant to bleed out against gravity.
Plan A is to have a header tank next to the radiator like a normal car, with a tee into the bottom for the steam pipe vent, which would run separate from the main coolant hoses all the way to the back. Does this sound reasonable/sensible?
We also need to know what size expansion tanks these usually run?
Cheers in advance!
05-12-2008, 12:48 PM
#2
Is your "Header Tank" part of the pressureized system ? or coming from the radiator cap ?releif port?
Many have tapped into the water pump to plumb the steam hose to or tee'd into the heater hose or radiator hose.. I assume your using a bypass hose there on the water pump for the heater ports... maybe tee into that. But as long as you have some point of the radiator higher than the highest point of the engine. I think most of the method to plumb the steam hose to would work. But I am no expert on what you have setup..
I had a friend with blown BBC in a 41 *****'s.. he had a over heating problem, cause the radaitor highest point was below the coolant passage in the Blower.. that developed a air pocket and I told him he needed to add a expantion tank above the engine coolant passage.. we added one on the firewall with the back of the mainfold flowing into the tank and then backup up to the rest of the system.. now instead of running 240+.. it is at 180 deg all day!
So.. yeah. you really need to make sure it is right on with the coolant setup. good luck.
Many have tapped into the water pump to plumb the steam hose to or tee'd into the heater hose or radiator hose.. I assume your using a bypass hose there on the water pump for the heater ports... maybe tee into that. But as long as you have some point of the radiator higher than the highest point of the engine. I think most of the method to plumb the steam hose to would work. But I am no expert on what you have setup..
I had a friend with blown BBC in a 41 *****'s.. he had a over heating problem, cause the radaitor highest point was below the coolant passage in the Blower.. that developed a air pocket and I told him he needed to add a expantion tank above the engine coolant passage.. we added one on the firewall with the back of the mainfold flowing into the tank and then backup up to the rest of the system.. now instead of running 240+.. it is at 180 deg all day!
So.. yeah. you really need to make sure it is right on with the coolant setup. good luck.
05-12-2008, 05:07 PM
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Thanks, that kinda confirms what we are thinking.
The radiator will be above the driver's head height so definitely higher than the engine
it's just the pipes having to drop down before going up to the rad that was worrying us.
Do people usually tee into the output of the water pump? We're not running a heater at all so we could potentially use one of the heater ports, the other will just get blanked off.
It's causing us a bit of head scratching as we've got the engine and a Speartech loom but there's not a lot of information about the LS in the UK (read: zero) so we're having to find everything out from across the pond, forums and the like.
The radiator will be above the driver's head height so definitely higher than the engine
it's just the pipes having to drop down before going up to the rad that was worrying us.Do people usually tee into the output of the water pump? We're not running a heater at all so we could potentially use one of the heater ports, the other will just get blanked off.
It's causing us a bit of head scratching as we've got the engine and a Speartech loom but there's not a lot of information about the LS in the UK (read: zero) so we're having to find everything out from across the pond, forums and the like.
05-13-2008, 09:12 AM
#4
Might want to check out some of the Sand buggy guys.. I remember seeing on that was setup just like what you are doing. But i don't recall looking at all of the details..
So, yes.. there is a solution for your high mounted radiator that will work. I don't thing the down pipes that you are concerned about is anything.. the Pump should overcome the extra height ok.
There is the flat spot on the water pump, that is the location where many have drilled, tapped and threaded in the fitting and then just ran the steam hose to it. The other options are to run a Tee in the upper radiator hose or to the heater hose.
How about some pictures of your setup ?
And welcome to the Forum.. do some more research on the Sand Buggy setup.
So, yes.. there is a solution for your high mounted radiator that will work. I don't thing the down pipes that you are concerned about is anything.. the Pump should overcome the extra height ok.
There is the flat spot on the water pump, that is the location where many have drilled, tapped and threaded in the fitting and then just ran the steam hose to it. The other options are to run a Tee in the upper radiator hose or to the heater hose.
How about some pictures of your setup ?
And welcome to the Forum.. do some more research on the Sand Buggy setup.
05-13-2008, 07:17 PM
#5
There are people on this site who say the only reason you need coolant coming off the steam vents is if you are using it to heat the throttle body. If you are not heating the throttle body, just block off all 4 steam vents using the LS6 style caps.
They sell radiator fill caps that splice into radiator hose lines. Just pick the hose that is the highest point in your cooling system and put the fill cap there.
They sell radiator fill caps that splice into radiator hose lines. Just pick the hose that is the highest point in your cooling system and put the fill cap there.
