Coolant reroute on VVT head gasket?
 

Is there any benefit to installing a cooling reroute on a standard VVT engine that is turbocharged?

I've read and viewed conflicting advice saying it makes the cooling worse against it makes it better, but not full Mk1 headgasket better. I would like to know the current thoughts/experiences of the collective?

I recently watched a Flyin Miata video that noted their coolant reroute as an improvement on the standard VVT setup which conflicted with most things I've read. Are coolant reroutes not basically all equal?

I've also read that the VVT HG restricts flow passing from the front of the block to the front of the head to promote flow around the engine. Would a reroute not make the front of the head hotter?

Please let me know your experiences

Many thanks

You want the reroute no matter what head gasket you have.

Miata has a lot of cooling issues that the same engines when used in Mazda front wheel drive applications never had.
Mazda tried to fix this by changing the size and location of the coolant holes in the Miata head gasket, but with very limited success.

Best solution seems to be do the coolant re route from the back of the head, and use a factory head gasket from a front wheel drive engine that was designed to have both the thermostat and coolant exit at the back. The FWD factory head gasket will have the right sized coolant holes in the right places to work properly with coolant flow from front to back.

As the radiator is probably now about twenty years old, fitting something a bit bigger and better is not going to hurt either.

Many thanks for the replies. I've upgraded the radiator already.

I'll do the head gasket change to an earlier item when I build the engine at a later date.

This query relates only to an unopened VVT engine which will initially run low boost ahead of building an engine at a later date. Is there benefit or potential issues from installing a reroute to a VVT engine at this time. There is lots of earlier discussion on potential pluses and minuses. I'm looking to see if a consensus has been reached.

I am running a reroute on a vvt hg for years with no issues, incl. countless track days.

A consensus has been reached. A coolant reroute is beneficial no matter which head gasket you are running on a VVT motor. Running the earlier head gasket is better then running the normal one, but running a reroute and normal gasket is better then no reroute and normal gasket.

Thanks for your experience people - I've got the kit sitting so will get it on this weekend.

I run a reroute on a turbo vvt engine with stock headgasket. No issues, works great.