water pump hoses to heater core......help please

[MaNdEr]

I have a 1967 Chevrolet short bed 2wd with a 1979 Chevy 350 small block and I am getting rid of the heater all together (less weight) and it has 2 hoses coming from the heater core one connects to the intake manifold and the other goes to the top of the water pump. question is can I just plug those two holes or do I need to run a line from the water pump to the intake manifold? I cannot tell if the water pump accesses the block in any other way.. I know the bottom raidiator hose connects to it but idk about just pluggin those holes... any comments will help as this is my first project/build.

[Resto-Rand]

I have the pump to manifold hose in place until I can replace my heater core again.

Seems the big hoses would be adequate though. Simple test, cap them and watch temp gauge.

[MaNdEr]

that's what I was originally going to do in the first place but I was worried about the aesthetics of the engine compartment, which is why I am getting rid of the ugly box on the firewall.. plan on mounting my MSD ignition and Sump kit there.. what I am worried about is that the water pump wont have anywhere to pump the water too being as the hose that would of run through the heater core and then to the intake manifold would be gone.. does the water pump have passages I cannot see that allow coolant into the block? the entire dash assembly is takin out for the custom dash I plan on building therefore I don't have a temp gauge installed at the moment (please allow 4 to 6 weeks delivery UGH!!) anyways anyone have any thoughts on this?

[da-burb]

You can plug both of them. There are internal passages in the water pump that push coolant into the block and then out the water neck at the top.

[MaNdEr]

Originally Posted by da-burb

You can plug both of them. There are internal passages in the water pump that push coolant into the block and then out the water neck at the top.

awesome that's what I was thinking as I have replaced water pumps on Toyota pickups and a few cars.. however on this water pump the only place it contacts the block is where the bolts go which is why I didn understand if they had passages in there and if so where are they I cannot see where it contacts the block...im prolly thinking way to much into it lol but I just want to make sure im not gonna over heat the damn thing haha Ill go out and take another gander and see if I can see where these passages are... thanks I would try and send some pics but cant get them on my computer.

[kwmech]

Originally Posted by da-burb

You can plug both of them. There are internal passages in the water pump that push coolant into the block and then out the water neck at the top.

Yes, but there will be no circulation out of the top of the manifold until the t-stat pops open. My vote is to put a short hose between the 2

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by MaNdEr

I have a 1967 Chevrolet short bed 2wd with a 1979 Chevy 350 small block and I am getting rid of the heater all together (less weight) and it has 2 hoses coming from the heater core one connects to the intake manifold and the other goes to the top of the water pump. question is can I just plug those two holes or do I need to run a line from the water pump to the intake manifold? I cannot tell if the water pump accesses the block in any other way.. I know the bottom raidiator hose connects to it but idk about just pluggin those holes... any comments will help as this is my first project/build.

You can just put some pipe plugs in the intake manifold and the water pump, small block chevy's have an internal t-stat bypass circuit built into the block.

Where the water pump bolts to the block it has two passages circulating water from the water pump to the block and one small one circulating water from the block back to the pump.

That's what that extra hole beneath the passenger side of the water pump flange on the block is for, it goes back and up in the block to the passenger side deck and aligns with a hole in the cylinder head to keep water moving from the block back into the pump when the t-stat is closed.

UNLESS you have GM factory style Vortec heads, they are not drilled to align with that passage and require an external hose.