Yet another coolant reroute with pics.
 

Hey guys, I decided to take my engine out and go for the coolant reroute at the same time I fixed some oil leaks.

I found the reroute to be easier than expected even though I'm not too sure if I'll face any issues with the piping coming out of the back when they put the engine back on the car.

I decided to put some pics up of what they're done before the engine goes back in so that anyone with more knowledge than me on the subject may suggest anything.

I'll post a few more.

Thanks,

A couple more pics. One with the heatshield finally in place and another with the COPs finally tied and not bouncing around!

Nice job looks good raf, Part number and total cost of possible.

repair shops look waaaaaaay different in the caribbean

is that hose gonna fit behind the CAS in the engine bay? 1.6 t-stat housing might have been a better route to go. would shoot it out under the CAS.

...whats up with that garage? any details on that?

You're dead on but I couldn't wait for it to get here.

In fact I question myself whether it's going to fit or not. For now it will have to do.

I was tired of running around without A/C on this weather. :mad:

My tuner's current shop. He's moving in a couple of weeks to his own shop but don't expect things to be much better than what you see there. I'm sure it will be cleaner.

You'd be surprised with the kind of cars he tunes there!

I have only bought a NAPA 180 degree thermostat so far. I do need a 1.6 thermostat housing but I couldn't wait any longer.

I paid for the valve cover painting job as part of the deal. He chose to do so and I said go ahead. This way he's happy and I get a better result. He also painted the IC pipings that color. I like it. I'm even surprised myself that I do. It only cost $90 to paint all those parts. :giggle:

The guy in the first pic is my tuner's head mechanic and I was adamant that he had to do this job on his own.

I was forgetting; he also had someone make me the plug for the front of the engine in aluminum but that part of the job I still haven't paid for so I don't know how much.

I had bought the blue hoses on ebay (I think it was something like $80).

One question- I see no provision for the heater hoses. I realize you probably don't require the heater very often, but do you have any provision for coolant to circulate through the engine prior to the thermostat opening?

Paul is correct. Try turning the 1.8 t/stat cover 180 degrees and go under the intake manifold forward to the top of the radiator. While it is off, put a 3/16 hole in the t/stat flange.

No heatercore in my case, ever. I did worry about the coolant not circulating through the engine prior to the thermostat opening. I had decided to follow olderguy's advice on an earlier thread about opening a small hole in the tstat housing.

Even though I've really considered this from the start I was thinking about trying it without making the hole first. What I discovered with the current tstat was that doing so did not fix my cooling issues; it only delayed the temps from rising for a little while.

I know both you and Joe know more about this subject than I'll ever learn so any input will be really appreciated. I'd rather make any changes now.

Many thanks

How are you going to bleed the coolant with the hose higher than the top of the rad? I was alway told that the coolant passages had to be lower than the spot we use to bleed the system.

Hmmm....

Fair enough. I had no clue about having to bleed the coolant. I can still change it.

Thanks,

that's news to me because mine bleeds as easily as Artie's mom every month.

lol! your coolant reroute pipe is also on top?

yup. you can see in this pic that it sits above the bolt that would otherwise hold the engine hook.

http://www.miatamx5.com/99swap2/99swap2-76.jpg

nice. I can use either the 1.6 or 1.8 flange, but I'm going to use the highroller spacer (if he ever makes it) and take it on the cold side.

Looks good Rafa, I would still try to take it to the coldside under the intake manifold.
I planned on using the same 1.8 housing there as you.