91, FM turbo at 8 psi, Mishimoto radiator, stock fans/shrouds. Looking to install a coolant reroute kit. Are they all pretty much the same or is one brand/style better than the others?
Thanks

 

949/Supermiata is a huge supporter of this forum, so you'll always be recommended their stuff. Fortunately, their stuff is also really, really good. I've worked with a few different kits and it's definitely the highest in quality.

 

I have the supermiata reroute. It's a jewel as far as production is concerned. I've had no issues in 7 years with it.

 

the above or DIY front on the back seems the go

 

What about the radiator hose in their kit, has a few bends it needs to make? Other kits use formed hoses for some reason. I dont know, just asking questions.

 

As someone who has messed around with cheaper reroute kits, I'd highly recommend just going with the SM kit. Installing the re-route sucks, and if you have a leak on the back of the head, that sucks. SM kit just makes it easy, convenient, well engineered, and won't leak.

 

Another +1 for supermiata. Haven't actually installed it yet but from my research as I prep my turbo build and it seems like the best well proven one, and not really an area I want to be taking a chance with or troubleshooting.

 

it’s just a straight piece of hose, the bends it needs to make are small enough it doesn’t kink. Just need to neatly slice it to length. Biggest issue I’ve had is rad inlet to throttle body inlet. some aftermarket intercooler inlets curve towards the passenger side to avoid the stock hose routing, which is right where the reroute hose goes. Supermiata or similar cross flow rad helps a lot, or you can cut/weld the inlet at an angle if you know a good welder.

 

Regarding the hose...

10 years ago, when reroute kits were more primitive than the FM and SM offerings and generally based on a spacer and a Kia water neck, there was a formed GM hose that was all the rage and fit really well. I never hear about it anymore. Is that just because all these kits ship with a length of silicone hose?

 

The Yukon hose is now made cheaper. Used to be 1.25” it’s entire length, now
most are only 1.25” on the ends, which you cut off. Rest is more like 1.5”

 

I'm still running that same (suburban?) GM hose on my setup. And I've had the same hose for a solid 10 years, it's still holding up. I'm also still rocking an old BEGI coolant spacer, with KIA neck. The setup works, though the next time I have a leak back there I'm ordering the SM stuff. I had a leak this spring but got lucky and tightening up the neck seems to have sealed it back up. That setup is tricky though, because if you overtighten the neck it will distort and leak, or even snap the flange off the kia neck (which I've done before).

Anyways anyone in the market now days I'd urge to skip all this, though it can be done, the SM setup is so much better engineered with actual useful thermostat access, etc.

 

https://mossmiata.com/910-640-coolan...YaApSlEALw_wcB

If you're still on the 1.6, this is really the bees knees. I've installed a few reroutes in my time and have found this the easiest. also easier to change the thermostat, which normal people don't do that much.

 

Just as an update, I couldn't find any pictures online showing a bulged hose with crimped ends. I went ahead and purchased Gates 22436 off Rockauto. It looks to be 1.25" the whole way through, so you can still get a nice formed rubber hose for reroutes.

1.25" does seem to be a bit larger than the factory Miata hoses though. It's a bit of a loose fit on the Supermiata reroute hose bib. I like the constant tension spring clamps over worm gear clamps, so on my latest trip to the junkyard I grabbed some hose clamps off of the same GMT400 generation truck that donated the hose. That clamps it down real nice.

 

Should be tight on the barbs. 1.25" is indeed the correct size, just get the reroute hose from SM. You won't see the bulge on the Yukon hose, it'll just be loose. 1.5" was just an exaggeration.

BTW, drove a 2025 (2024?) Tahoe/Yukon this weekend, put about 600 miles on it, good noises, but they're $70k these days, similar hose!