www.86garage.com

ok so some ppl have asked me how i did this swap so here you go

well what i do was made block off plates like this the hole where for the ecu temp sensor and the other was for the one side of the heater core

the hole is for the temp sensor for the guage

now you will have to make a port in the head like this


now you can use the 20v head gasket it will not over heat and works fine
now for the water lines i did the 4age 16v Water Pump Conversion
you will need the full water pump and housing 16v alternator and brakets
and all the 16v pullys no you do not need to shave the crank pully
now the water pump housing will bolt up but you will need to shave spots so it can clear the block and on the block you will need to grind down a spot so the pump will sit flat

after that it will bolt up like stock now there is a water line coming out of the housing pull it out and plug it you dont need it


now there is a hard line that comes out the back of the housing i cut mine and ran a line to the other side of the heater core yes it blows hot air

now here is the big thing you have to do is with the thermostat you will have to drill 2 or 3 holes so that the coolent can still pass if not the thermostat wil not open and you will over heat the motor and pop it and for the last thing you will need to do and is the only part you will have to weld up is for the top rad port



hope this helps you and you can do this mod to fit any car becasue it dose not take up any space in the back of the head

if you need anymore info pm me more then willing help

and for the last pic see how clean it make the swap look and cost lil time parts are cheap

good job on that.

dr.occa wrote:good job on that.

thanks just wanted to clear it up so ppl can do this and not get stressed out and save money

i performed a similar conversion on a car.

i used a rwd GTS water pump housing and upper water neck.

-had a friend tig weld covers on the rear water housing. i then removed a portion of the inside of the housing to allow the higher of the 2 ports to be fully exposed inside the housing rather than be divided up. just left the sensor openings available for the ECU water temp and just plugged up the smaller one.

- the upper water neck i cut from its flange. i then cut the flange from the BT upper water neck (the curved neck that connects to the back of the stock BT water pump housing) from its flange. again, had a friend weld the rwd upper water neck to the bt upper water neck flange. i blocked off the coolant port on the driver side of the head and the back of the water pump housing.

-for the bypass line, i filled in both bypass ports in the upper water neck and water pump housing. drilled and tapped them for 3/8" npt 90° brass fittings and connected a 1/2" ID coolant hose between them.

if the owner ever wants to re-introduce heat all that will need to be done is tape the rear water housing for another 3/8" npt fitting and do the same for the rear of the water pump housing possibly using the same block off plate.

the water pump housing i used is a gts one no drilling needed to hook up the heater core

the top water neck i could of done it the same way you did but it cut flow makeing a flang to adapt the gts upper water neck on where the upper water neck we made is steel and all you need is a grinder and flat steel and some steel pipe and a welder this up water neck is stronger and flows geat

any of you guys want to do this to my black top so I can hurry and install it??? lol

if your in canada and willing to take it to my shop hit me up if not its not hard to do the swap and if your car was a 16v gts you will have most of the parts you need

i'm gonna swing by one day Jonas so i can get a better look at this conversion

the thing I like about this is it doesn't have external water lines but I don't like how it makes the sensors stick outwards and requires head mods. I think with the sensors like that they would have limited room and also be subjected to being damaged as well as subjectively not looking as neat. As for the rear plates why not just put the bypass in the block itself? I mean that would make it a 5 minute job to install and you can always undo it. But that's just what I think anyway. This is the design I came up with:





Sensors face up so easy to get to and the heater barb out of the side of the head. Either way I still like the option pictured though although no water bypass?

I wrote a big cooling guide on this if anyone wants an information overload:

http://s-86.com/s-newcoolingguide.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


I would like to hear peoples opinions, I like honest feedback

pic on engine:



This one was for a friend and I put a 3/8 barb on the left side to act as a water return for a turbo, we thought about and figured it was right and in testing it worked well which was a releif.


Anyone else got pics of their conversion?

Sam, i like your rear bypass block. it looks a great deal cleaner than the modified stock 20v rear water housing i used for a customer's swap. my route does essentially the same thing that your aesthetically nicer piece does.

for the upper water neck->bypass->water pump housing i had a pieces from the rwd gts welded to the 20v upper water neck piece and filled in and re-tapped both upper and lower housings to accommodate 90° barbs. i've since thought better of the bypass and would've just had both barbs face each other for a shorter hose and cleaner look.





hindsight's 20/20 as they say. the customer can still do so if he has a mind to.

now that's a unique idea. Apart from the easily fixed bypass issue as you mention it does look really good. Hey this might interest you from cmorganae86 off club4ag:







A real work of art if you ask me. I never went for this option because despite it being very elegant and functional it's very hard and expensive to source those top outlets here in Australia. Makes what I offer look pretty lousy but oh well compromises must be made.

you know, i dig that flange adapter he cooked up. the bypass may still need to be addressed better me thinks.

yes I agree. This is the my favorite:

hey, i like that. is that from your hat of tricks?