If I wanted to bypass my heater core, can I just plug up the manifold water fitting that sends water to the heater core and also plug up the water pump fitting too?

Or, does this screw up water flow somehow.

I did, havent fired it yet though. I dont think there should be anything wrong with it, Hot rods do it.

I would imagine you'd be able to do that without any problems. After all, it's not your heater core's job to cool the engine....

My buddy did that on his 70 Nova and no problems I plan on doing it to my 77.

If I wanted to bypass my heater core, can I just plug up the manifold water fitting that sends water to the heater core and also plug up the water pump fitting too?

Or, does this screw up water flow somehow.


If you use the rubber plugs they will break and leak on you.
Your best bet would be to pull out the fittings and get some brass plugs for the intake manifold and the water pump then you can use the rubber plugs on the heater core.

Trust me if you use the rubber plugs they will blow out on you it's just a matter of time.

I think it is o.k. as long as the water pump has an internal bypass that lets water circulate in the pump while the thermostat is closed. The heater core and lines provide this bypass when it's in the coolant circuit.

You can either plug up the heater hose connections securely, or you can loop a hose from one to the other bypassing the heater core. Unless you have some other kind of problem causing overheating problems, neither situation should cause any additional problems.

Don't forget to watch the upper and lower radiator hoses after you plug up the heater lines for high rpm collapsing when the thermostat is open. If you see either hose collapse, make sure you put a wire coil inside the upper and lower hoses...Don't ask me how I know :o

why don't you just fix the heater core?

THey are like $35 at napa...

You could go with this setup

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b11/Toomanyhobbies/P3310001.jpg

trust me, everyone just by-passes the heater core when they go bad, but the fix is not really that bad... It is maybe about 4-5 hours from start to finish...

I just wanted to let you know (WITH THE HELP FROM THE BOARD)...i DID MY HEATER CORE THIS WEEKEND! nEVER EVEN KNEW WHAT ONE LOOKED LIKE, BUT IT IS ALL BACK TOGETHER....DIDNT TAKE LONG, WASN'T HARD.....JUST AWKWARD. Hmmm....just realised I had caps lock on....sorry.

Yeah just plug them off.. No probs.

Use screw in plugs.. Take the fitting out of intake and water pump, then screw in a steel or brass plug. I bought a couple of plugs from ace hardware for mine.

Had mine plugged off like that for 3 years.

well what do ya do if you don't even have a dash?? lol

I just plugged mine, no problems yet.