Plumbing cooling/heater system on my GMC project

[SHANE 73Z]

Hey guys,

I have a question regarding H2O plumbing on my truck.

Here is what I am working with:

-Intake manifold – TPIS Mini-Ram: It has (2) 3/8” female ports in the front of intake below the t-stat

-Radiator – has single 3/8” female port below rad cap

-sbc short pump – (2) ½” female ports

-stock heater core – 5/8” feed bottom – ¾” return top

NO PORTS in cylinder heads……….

I need to plumb the following-

-temp sensor for ECU – holley HP – will also be used to control the electric fans

-heater return to H2O pump

-temp sender for guage

- heater supply

Ideally, I want the sensor for the ECU in the intake. I would also prefer the guage sender to be there as well. Of course the heater return would go to H2O pump, but that leaves the heater core feed coming from the rad.

Not only that but the heater core is also the highest point in the cooling system.

This means that the heater core feed isn’t pressurized………….

Looking for suggestions on how to plumb all of this stuff and still have it all working correctly. How would you do it?

Thanks in advance,
Shane

[Katrina/10]

I did a tuned port conversion on a carbureted engine. Your mini ram should have the same connections. The only place to connect the heater core feed is on the front of the intake, along with another for the CTS to the ECM. The best place to connect the sending unit for the gauge is in the head, it's the hottest place in the engine. The heater return can go to the water pump or radiator, either one will work fine.

[SHANE 73Z]

Gary,

Thanks for the reply, but part of the rub here is that there are no ports in the heads. I was hoping I could get away without having to add them.

Shane

[Katrina/10]

Sorry, guess I didn't read closely enough. I never ran across a set of heads with no pipe plugs or sensors in them!

[SHANE 73Z]

No worries Gary,

I guess I will have to bite the bullet & tap the drivers cylinder head. They are Brodix IK200s.

Shane

[Katrina/10]

I looked up the Brodix heads, they have some good specs. Other people had a problem with the lack of sending unit locations also. Some mentioned drilling and tapping, but I couldn't find any drawings of where the exact location should be. Maybe you could find that with some more research.

[Andy4639]

You could always put a tee in that front spout and run 2 senor's off of it.
Are find a water neck like these.


My 87 TPI motor:



Something like this.