Spitfire MK4 1300 - coolant pipe in head?

[jiggawhat2k]

Hi guys, hope you can help and apologies if this is info available already (did search for it).

I've fitted a mk4 Spitfire 1300 engine to my Herald and had a question on the coolant piping. 

There is a coolant pipe in the top of the head that I didn't have in the previous 1500 engine that was in there. I can't find pics of mk4 spit engines that have it too. 

We've plumbed it into another pipe so it flows somewhere (tried running the car without it plugged and water pumped out).

Any ideas where this should be attached? Have we got it right? Circled below:

Thanks, Jim

[Colin Lindsay]

That take-off from the head is on all of my 1200 Heralds, but blanked off on the only 13/60 reference photos I've been able to find - I think that revamped cooling of the head made it redundant in the later cars. It's possible that a PO has added the take-off pipe from an earlier car to fit his requirements. Any of the cars I've looked at this morning have a square plug, which looks the same as a gearbox or diff plug, in the hole - it's a tapered seal. I'd be happy to blank it off in the same fashion UNLESS something else on the engine has been altered and made it necessary, but I doubt it. Blank it off, connect the hoses in the normal way, and see how the temperature or engine behave.

 

[NonMember]

It's the heater feed for an earlier Spitfire - certainly up to Mk3, probably some Mk4

The later (1500) engine used a different arrangement with a T-piece on the manifold pipe.

[Colin Lindsay]

It was certainly used on the 1200 Herald and 1147 Spitfires, but the later 1360s have it blanked off, so must have found a more suitable hose arrangement. Anyone got a good photo? Any I could find were poor in detail and for some reason all of the wrong side of the engine... (and in some strange colours too...) but they all have the same small square plug. 

 

 

 

[blubayou]

I've used a simplified plumbing setup on my car for years.

The rear outlet on the cylinder head is plugged (as on many production setups). The water flows from the front of the head, through the manifold, out to the heater, back from the heater, into a home made bypass tube into the water pump.

Saves on ineffectual & expensive water valves & very expensive shaped pipes.

Probably not ideal as I'm sure the rear cylinders will run hotter than the front, but it's worked for me.

 

 

[jiggawhat2k]

Thanks all, useful to see how others have handled it. Agree it looks like I can probably blank it off and reduce the complexity under there. 

@blubayou that's such a tidy setup, and great it hasn't caused you issues. How many years have you had it like that??

[blubayou]

Hi Jiggawhat, I remember when I first put the car on the road the heater valve was knackered & the angled pipe kits were really expensive so I configured it out with a couple of hoses cut off & bunged up. That was 18 years ago!

The set up shown I've had for about 5 years.