I know some people have done this before so I'm asking for some enlightenment on the subject about how you went through your process to do this.

I'm talking about the small 4" section of tubing that connects from the thermostat housing to the water pipe that runs directly above the exhaust manifold. I've had this small section right above cylinder 1 deteriorate and split twice on me now so I figure it is time to go with a -10 AN conversion with some SS hose. -10 Should work I believe since the hose is a 3/4" OD x 5/8" ID (nominal).

The only thing I'm not sure on here is finding the right type of fitting and getting the nipple on the housing along with the other end of the water pipe threaded to fit the fittings onto, OR whether or not you would have to weld the fittings on? I've got a tap and die set, but I don't think its going to be as easy as that.

For those who have experience with this chime in and give me your input please. Thanks.

It has always been my understanding that the connections for those lines are never altered... they're just taking a standard SS sleeve which runs off a worm clamp. For instance, the thermostat housing is completely ceramic (if memory serves) so there is no tapping it.

Now, I've just last week bypassed my heater core and have got an 'ugly' heater hose going from the radiator outlet to the thermostat housing to create the loop... I fully intend on doing what I just explained myself to 'pretty it up'.

As for the blistering or splitting of that line... if you've still got your heater core in the loop, I'd HIGHLY suggest using a DEI heat sleeve on the metal piping; it fits perfectly, as if it were made for it. It's what I did and worked great; never had another problem.

- J

the way to do it is; Weld a straight 16an or 20a bung to the water neck, and same to the aluminum radiator replacing the hose nipple.

then use 2 45* an fittings and a short piece of hose.

the downside to it is the fact that the hose is so short their isnt a lot of flex or pull in it.

so when i need to remove the hose, i must unbolt the water neck, and replace the gasket each time... bummer but IMO worth it for what the hose adds for piece of mind.

another option is to cut the hose nipple off the radiator, weld in a flat plate, and weld the bung fairly close to straight even with the water neck, and run 2 straight fittings...

here are pics of my set up.

^Looks good man :thumb

Originally posted by Black Cotton
the way to do it is; Weld a straight 16an or 20a bung to the water neck, and same to the aluminum radiator replacing the hose nipple. then use 2 45* an fittings and a short piece of hose. the downside to it is the fact that the hose is so short their isnt a lot of flex or pull in it. so when i need to remove the hose, i must unbolt the water neck, and replace the gasket each time... bummer but IMO worth it for what the hose adds for piece of mind. another option is to cut the hose nipple off the radiator, weld in a flat plate, and weld the bung fairly close to straight even with the water neck, and run 2 straight fittings... here are pics of my set up.

That's nice for the upper radiator hose, but what I'm actually talking about is the smaller hose that runs along the front of the head about 2" above the exhaust manifold across. Here is a picture of what I'm talking about except I don't really want the line all the way across.(borrowing Dougs engine pic from his FS post)

two ways to approach that...

first off that's your heater core bypass pipe, not a radiator hose...

anywho.. the nipple that goes into the T stat housing can be removed, from there you can tap that hole and thread in an AN fitting or you can weld an AN fitting right to the housing.

10an is massive, its an option, but i mostly see 6 and 8 AN being used for that application.

from there you will need to weld a bung onto the steel lower radiator bypass PIPE as you see in that picture.

then from there do whatever it is you want to do.

i personally eliminated my heater core piping and heater core itself.

and used that outlet on the t stat housing to go to the inlet of my turbo, and the waterpump bypass pipe is my return off of my turbo.

I see what you're getting at in your setup, but I'm not planning on bypassing anything. The only reason I want to do this is to retain everything stock besides having about 4" of ss hose instead of some rubber hose to prevent what has happened to me in the past.

So it looks like I need to remove that nipple and thread the casting for the AN fitting and see if my buddy can weld one onto the other side. Thanks for the input.

Anyone happen to know if 3/8" NPT adapter will fit that hole at the T stat housing? That way I can make sure I get the right thread size for my adapter fitting. (trying to get a quick answer, since I don't have time to go home and check it)

Holy sh*t Cotton that looks tight, good job!

- J

thanks bro, ill start posting final pics of the engine bay soon... it came out super clean. but ill let you guys judge.

Yea I can't wait to see the rest. I'm a big fan of the topmount!