Coolant leak fumunda, a Q for VNV and other miscellaneous stuff

[Kid_Again]

...the coolant leak is fumunda my new electric water pump :gap

..OK, I reinstalled the controller for my Spal fan and I also installed the Moroso water pump and that's where I need your advice..

I fired it up after all the fixes/re-fixes and the most important part to cover first is coolant leaks from both the lower radiator hose connector and the upper heater hose connector....the upper hose connector shouldn't be a problem but the lower fitting will be tough to tighten (it is completely round adapter that goes from 1.25" OD down to 3/4" NPT (I believe))..anyway, it's a reducer to take the hose to the pump......the major problem is the threads in the pump housing are really rough and i want to use a very thick sealant on those threads for both fittings to make the best seal possible -> what would you recommend?

...now, all responses to this next question are welcome but i tend to rely on my wiring guy, VNV......I want to vary the speed of the electric water pump and be able to switch it on and off....i want to switch it off because there's no need to draw extra power when i crank it up....i would then like to vary the speed, even if all i have is the ability to go "off-half speed-full speed" and I assume that i would also run the water pump through a solenoid - not sure - but i also don't want the cockpit to look like they had a sale on bling at radio shack...any ideas?

....BTW, the electric pump, running at constant speed, does a hell of a job keeping the sb cool...it simply would not heat up beyond the tstat setting, the fan did not kick in......I figure that i can get at least as far as VNV's driveway with the setup that i have now


..then, finally, my battery died on the sb...the "amp" gauge didn't look all that bad when i drove the car but when I load tested the battery :eek ...i tried charging the battery out of the car on the big charger and it would not take less than a 20 amp charge..OK, new battery after 5 years....BUT what i did notice was corrosion on the battery cutoff terminals and i suppose I learned another good lesson about battery maintenance:eyerole

 

[Kid_Again]

Well, Mark helped me out while the CAC was down, On his recommendation, I ordered a pulse width modulator with a continuously variable pot sos that I can vary the speed of the electric water pump....'way down when cranking it over and then I'll figure out the optimal setting for cruising. It's advertised to flow 19gpm and that value seems to be plenty for a sb.

I actually had three leaks after the install. The first was where the billet lower house adpater screwed into the water pump, the second was the heater hose inlet on the top and they were both easy to fix. The more interesting problem was where I had to tap and plug the lowest coolant hole on the passenger's side - the OEM-style pump covers all three holes whereas the electric pump just covers two. The thread is 1/8"NPT and the plug that came with the pump was too damn loose. I had another brass plug that fit better (not great, just better) but I had to relieve the bottom of the pump to clear the larger plug.

When I reistalled everything, I still had a very slight drip from the plug. A bottle of Barr's radiator fix seems to have fixed that problem until next year when I drill and tap to the next larger size.

 

[JohnZ]

It's advertised to flow 19gpm and that value seems to be plenty for a sb.

Keep an eye on the temp gauge - the stock SB water pump flows 57 gpm @ 4400 rpm. Stock BB pump flows 82 gpm.

 

[Kid_Again]

Keep an eye on the temp gauge - the stock SB water pump flows 57 gpm @ 4400 rpm. Stock BB pump flows 82 gpm.

Hmmmmm........OK, will do. So far, with ambient temperature in the low 50's, it just gets to the tstat temp

Well, I DON'T think I'll go that route with the big block.

Hmmmmmm..........

 

[G Winter]

I have found that silicone gasket sealer works great on threads. You just have to let it dry before you put the water in. Makes it very easy to get the fittings out again if need be.
Glenn

 

[Kid_Again]

OK, as usual, JohnZ makes me pause.

The underlying fact is that I listen to the ME's. JohnZ's views will be persuasive. Bottom line.

I wonder about retention time in the radiator. Flow rate is one thing, the ability for a radiator to transfer heat is another. I will confess that i granny drive the cars. I leave the performance exhibitions to my G35 Coupe. Not a single V8 Corvette leaves me in the dust but I've never gone head-to-head with a new Z06. Not looking forward to that. You base-engine guys can yell all you want but I stay even with you with a V6.

I'll give the electric water pump a try. In today's litiginous envionment, they couldn't continue to advertise the electric water pump as a street option unless it worked.

My response to JohnZ? ;worship

 

[JohnZ]

OK, as usual, JohnZ makes me pause.I'll give the electric water pump a try. In today's litiginous envionment, they couldn't continue to advertise the electric water pump as a street option unless it worked.

My response to JohnZ? ;worship

I'm just an old fart engineer, but in my view, electric water pumps were developed for dragstrip use, so you could cool off the engine after a pass without running the engine, and continue to cool it down in the staging lanes. The stock water pumps were very carefully developed in concert with the size/layout of the engine's coolant passages to provide the best pump rpm/flow rate curve to meet the engine's cooling requirements, and I've never seen a stock pump that didn't work just fine, assuming the radiator was properly sized and the airflow through it was adequate. I'd just watch closely when replacing a (stock) pump with a peak flow capacity of 57gpm with an electric one with a peak flow capacity of 19gpm.

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

Dumm...Dee..Dummm ..Dummm

You better be carrying Drive Way Cleaner in that Electric Vette of yours when you start spraying Rhino Snot on my Concete..Got none at my house

 

[Kid_Again]

Dumm...Dee..Dummm ..Dummm

You better be carrying Drive Way Cleaner in that Electric Vette of yours when you start spraying Rhino Snot on my Concete..Got none at my house

Hey, I'll tell 'ya, a few words from John is worth substantially more than the "experts" who give advice based on "their experience". I assumed I was running at the lower limit of capabilty but THAT'S a substantial difference in peak output.

Hmmmm

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

Hey, I'll tell 'ya, a few words from John is worth substantially more than the "experts" who give advice based on "their experience". I assumed I was running at the lower limit of capabilty but THAT'S a substantial difference in peak output.

Hmmmm

I still have to give you credit for doing this little project. I like the idea that your doing rocket science here tring to improve things. My hat's off to you.

Continue on and keep at it. It's different and I like that. Even though the God's have laid out the specs and have fired off a few lighting bolts to caution you..just put on your Tin Foil hat to keep the RFI otta your brain and march on..