Hey gang,

On my S5 track car, the previous owner had removed the entire heating system and capped off the rear heater-core feed on the block using one of those "Help" caps and a spring hose clamp. This is the outlet right below the oil filter pedistal.

Long story short, heading into "Bitch" on the south course at VIR (big off-camber right hander) , the cap blew off and I dumped the entire contents of my cooling system onto the rear drivers side tire.

I will say that it was one of the more exciting 5 seconds of track time I had that weekend . I managed to limp it back to the pits with no apparent damage to the engine seals from the overheating.

But before this season gets into full swing, I'd like to consider installing a hard plug on this outlet. Perhaps an AN fitting so I can go back and replumb it later if and when I add the heater core back in (if I go ITS with the car).

Has anyone done this operation and have any advice?

Thanks,

-bill

 

Use a cutoff wheel to trim the outlet nipple flush with the rest of the cast iron. Drill and tap the hole for an NPT plug.

 

If your able to catch or push out all the left overs from tapping. Unless your taking apart the engine anyways then you wont need to worry about the shavings. I took a rubber cap, filled it full of JB weld, then filled the nipple with JB, and the cap over, which created a pretty good seal. I dont know how long it will hold, but I assume for quite sometime.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...highlight=pipe

That's a good thread above. I tapped mine and used a pipe fitting.

 

Whatever you do don't use an NPT plug. It can be done but sometimes it will crack the housing.
Use a #8 AN plug. Just run a tap in the hole once you've removed the pipe.

 

Thanks for the info and the pointer to the old thread. Should have searched first, but I hadn't seen this discussed before. I am usually quite the search-****.



-b