Cooling system confusion

[Jackal]

I was getting down to work on Beatrice last night and I put the thermostat housing on that I pulled from the wrecker over the weekend. I noticed that it was a very tight fit where the thermostat housing ports empty. Both the feed to the Radiator, and the other other port that feeds the hose on the left of the housing are within a half inch of the foot box. This creates some serious kinking in the hoses on that side.

 

I guess I'm looking for some feedback and/or pictures on how you folks have solved this issue on the 2L Zetec. I have considered purchasing a Raceline water rail, but I have heard the challenges with it as well. I looked at quite a few Zetec motors over the weekend, and I didn't see any thermostat housings that would fit better. Am I not planning on running a heater for the time being so I'll just be plugging the feed on the other side.

 

Thanks for the help.

Edited November 9, 2011 by Jackal

[11Budlite]

When I first got my Birkin it came with an aluminum block that mounted between the head and the thermostat housing. It is 1" thick and moves the thermostat housing appr 3/4" towards the passenger side and appr 1/2" higher. I think I remember the hose routing was still a tight fit. You could contact Dick Brink and see if he has them in stock. Here's a photo of the part:

[jlumba81]

I have a raceline water rail that won't fit on my svt zetec, but will fit on a regular zetec. The only part that is missing is the thermostat housing. I didn't realize it was a seperate piece until my order arrived. PM if interested. I'll sell it for what I paid minus the uk shipping.

[super7guy]

Can you provide details on why the raceline water rail will not work with the SVT head.

 

Been thinking of using SVT head and presently are using raceline water rail.

 

thanks,

Wayne

[jlumba81]

It'll probably fit on the head fine. Its the belt tensioner bracket uses a bolt hole on the side where the water rail is supposed to be. I don't want to go thru the hassle of finding/fabricating a new bracket that works w/ the water rail when I'm missing the thermostat housing anyways. Maybe someone who made it work will make a post.

[Jackal]

@11Budlite- Unfortunately I didn't get one of those in my kit. I can see how that would be helpful though. I have some cooling system parts on order from Dick, but he made no mention of that adaptor when we were discussing the topic. I just checked on the parts, and they are in Calgary Postal Facility now, so hopefully he decided to throw one in.

@jlumba81- I had been looking at the Raceline water rail earlier. Cost was a major issue for me though. The shipping on those parts is a bit of a killer. I have been looking at the alternator bracket they make though, so maybe adding in the thermostat housing wouldn't be so bad. I'll know more about if I want to take you up on your offer after I get this load of parts in.

[rzempel]

FWIW, my car w/Zetec had a generic chrome hot-rod thermostat housing/elbow. It worked fine, but I'm finishing up the conversion to Raceline--I had other problems with my cooling system and decided to upgrade everything at once. I can post a pic of the old elbow if you need it to know what I'm referring to.

 

Randall

[Jackal]

FWIW, my car w/Zetec had a generic chrome hot-rod thermostat housing/elbow. It worked fine, but I'm finishing up the conversion to Raceline--I had other problems with my cooling system and decided to upgrade everything at once. I can post a pic of the old elbow if you need it to know what I'm referring to.

 

Randall

 

 

I would appreciate that.

[rzempel]

Here are the pics of my old setup. The thermo housing is a generic thing which, when mounted, aimed the outlet up at about a 45 degree angle with plenty of clearance between block and firewall. From there, the upper radiator hose had a 90 bend, a filler cap fitting, then a hose to the radiator. That part all worked fine (as long as I remembered to torque the lower bolt down...which I neglected before the Black Hills tour and ultimately had a small leak there). I used the two holes in the housing for my cockpit gauge sender and ECU temp sender. They could just as easily be plugged--or the big one used for a heater line, which I don't have.

 

These parts are now excess to my needs, so if you're interested in using them yourself PM me.

 

Randall