V8 Guys, Do I need these?, Cleaning out the engine bay Options

[Dave_Darling]

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-12092-1314200771.jpg)

From L to R, the circled items are:

Heater control cable tube
Tube for heated air to get to the cabin
Bracket for the fuel filter
Bracket for the MPS and Decel Valve
(Not sure, possibly where the rear deck lid torsion bar bracket bolts on)
(Again, may be where the rear deck torsion rod bracket goes)

--DD

[stewteral]

there is a subie convert by the name of britian if my memory serves me well. He ran hosing down the original hot air transfer tunnels. Looks to be clean yet pain in the ass way of doing it. and good god how much 914 is left after a v8 conversion? that car looks like its a motor with a 914 front end thrown on it.

Terry's V8 conversion as one of the more extreme examples. Many V8 914s, like mine, have rear trunks that are complete with roof brackets, carpet and such, just a small 4" x 4" cutout at the middle of the front of the trunk for distributor clearance. The front trunk is the biggest sacrifice, with the radiator up there, ther's no room for a laydown spare. For the outside or the interior, there's no indication that my car has a V8, as long as it's parked. The funny thing is that I still focus on Porsche parts because I want to keep it "original". (IMG:style_emoticons/default/screwy.gif)

A number of people have run the coolant hoses through the heater vents, up to the dash area, and back down to the radiator. Works well, but burping the lines of trapped air is problematic. Some people solved this with small bleed valves at the high points, but it's still a pain. Almost all V8 conversions run Gates (or similar) hose under the car with virtually no problems. My hoses have been good for 15 years. Flexible hose is preferred under the car, hardlines may get crimped or broken going over speed bumps, steep driveways or road debris. The rubber hoses seem to shrug that stuff off.

Hi ewdysar,

You made a good point about most V8 conversions, well said. Most folks are happy with 300 HP for a very fun daily driver. Of course, if the HP (and companion torque) gets to 400, the 901 trans won't take it without some serious upgrades. Most conversion cars are not lowered much and if you have decent driveways, you can run the hoses under the car.

My car is a tuned-up 383 and even though it is street-legal, I actually only run at Streets of Willow Springs. Yup, the the passenger seat is out of the car!

I believe our friend Pete mentioned setting his car up for track events and thus my
admonition on under-car plumbing. With a bit of lowering and a simple spin off-track could snag the hoses and spoil his day. At least that's how nasty the desert is off of Willow Springs!

As for "burping" the cooling system, if the hoses/tubes are run low ( rocker panels,
threaded inside the car or even under the car), with no rise in the middle, there will be NO problem working the air out AUTOMATICALLY with a HEADER TANK!!!!!! Renegade doesn't understand the "technology," but I learned from Dad's '64 Cobra. In fact, the header tank I'm running is THE one from the Cobra! Take another look at the photos. BTW: The tank must be mounted ABOVE the engine When plumbed correctly, a 3/8" hose from the front of the intake manifold pumps directly into the header tank, while the main water flow from the T-Stat housing goes by the tank, connected by a T-intersection., on its way to the radiator. I've run my set up for 8 years, with about 10 engine pulls and NEVER had a problem with trapped air. The header tank is filled to 1/2 full to leave expansion room for the water.

I hope this will be helpful to some folks,

Terry

[ewdysar]

.... A number of people have run the coolant hoses through the heater vents, up to the dash area, and back down to the radiator. Works well, but burping the lines of trapped air is problematic. Some people solved this with small bleed valves at the high points, but it's still a pain. Almost all V8 conversions run Gates (or similar) hose under the car with virtually no problems. My hoses have been good for 15 years. Flexible hose is preferred under the car, hardlines may get crimped or broken going over speed bumps, steep driveways or road debris. The rubber hoses seem to shrug that stuff off.

Hi ewdysar,

You made a good point about most V8 conversions, well said....

As for "burping" the cooling system, if the hoses/tubes are run low ( rocker panels,
threaded inside the car or even under the car), with no rise in the middle, there will be NO problem working the air out AUTOMATICALLY with a HEADER TANK!!!!!! Renegade doesn't understand the "technology," but I learned from Dad's '64 Cobra. In fact, the header tank I'm running is THE one from the Cobra! Take another look at the photos. BTW: The tank must be mounted ABOVE the engine When plumbed correctly, a 3/8" hose from the front of the intake manifold pumps directly into the header tank, while the main water flow from the T-Stat housing goes by the tank, connected by a T-intersection., on its way to the radiator. I've run my set up for 8 years, with about 10 engine pulls and NEVER had a problem with trapped air. The header tank is filled to 1/2 full to leave expansion room for the water.

I hope this will be helpful to some folks,

Terry

Hi Terry,

Eric here (my name is in my sig). Yep, the ones with burping problems that I mentioned are the systems with hoses that run through the heater ducts, up to the dash and then back down into the front trunk. A very noticable high point in both hoses.

My "stock" Renegade system works fine, all I do to burp the system is to add to the plastic overflow tank a couple of times after a full cooling system drain and fill. Each time the motor heats and cools it burps all of the air out by itself and pulls the new coolant back in from the overflow tank. I never even remove the radiator cap after the first fill. The coolant filler neck with the radiator cap on it is mounted above the engine level on the right side of the firewall. I'm not sure that anyone would call it "a HEADER TANK!!!!!!" but it seems to work exactly like you describe. Here's a picture of one.

[ewdysar]

Here's a picture of my coolant filler neck and the overflow tank.