Beside my YBlocks, I have a car with a 302.  The 302 have a hot water bypass on them too.  By blocking off the bypass on the small blocks, does this have the same effect.  Any other problems with blocking it off (with the 1/8 hole drilled in it) by the same method that I did with my YBlock?


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

posibly i shaould not coment,tho i believ this is a major mistak on yblockes or any othe engine.all engines have a bypas hose or some have a internal port in the water pump. the bypas is so when stat closed ther is proper circulation in the engine.playing with by pas will cause cavitation and hot spots in the engine. eriated water will not register properly on temp gauge. my 57 292ran  cool all summer even in stop and go city trafic remember 210 is not over heating,with proper radcap and functaning therm. my cap is 7psi

The main purpose of the hot water bypass is to allow the heater to function when the thermostat is closed.  A secondary purpose is to allow any trapped air in the cooling system to be purged which is an important attribute on many of the Ford engines when looking at how the coolant must flow up and then back down in order to get coolant back into the block from the water pump.  Rather than block the bypass in order to increase the water pump capacity, I recommend simply putting a restrictor in the bypass hose or line so that the air can still be purged.  I’ve blocked and/or restricted the bypasses on both SBF and SBC engines in racing applications which helps with overall cooling.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)