So I'm just finishing up the porting work on this 12a and will be starting final assembly in the next few days and need a couple of opinions from some experienced engine builders.

This engine will have a decent sized street-port and is going in a track car. The car will be running pre-mix and has no heater. So I'm wondering if I can remove the OMP drive gear and shaft (blocking of the hole in the front cover) and also tapping and plugging the coolant feed line under the oil filter pedestal that feeds the heater core. Anyone see any issues with doing this?

 

the shaft stays. removing it causes a big internal oil leak, it drops the oil pressure to the bearings, and this is bad. its not a v8, turning that little shaft takes almost no hp

the 81 and older engines had the heater hose nipple tapped, so you can do it too. a freeze plug would also work

 

no issues . i did the same... left the shaft in and block it off

 

roger that... shaft stays... plugging hole....

Thanks fellas!

 

Remove gear, leave the shaft.
Remove the heater hoses. I run with no T-stat; like RB recommends.

GD