well i was having some trouble fitting the steam pipe on to my AFR heads by about 2mm, i tried bending it a little and reshaping the metal pipe and it broke. is there any problems cause by just plugging those holes and not having the steam pipes back there?

 

The purpose of the steam pipe is to prevent hot spots from forming and to balance out the cooling system. Take it off and its a roll of the dice.

 

i'm not much of a gambler when it comes to thousands of my dollars in an engine.

where's the best place to pick another one up>

 

In order to avoid such problems, I use #4 or #6 steel braided hose with an appropriate fitting on each head. Since it's flexible, you won't have problems with tweaking it. You can have the line made up at Hoseman or, if you have access to an outlet that handles Earl's or similar fittings you can make it up yourself.

 

I'm in the same boat i've got them blocked off right now.only for about 200 miles but im glad i seen this thread.

So do they just have to be connected to each other?or due you have to connect them and run them to some thing else?

 

As you are probably aware, the factory unit only connects the two heads on an LT1. The motors I prepare are for use in racing applications (NHRA Stock and Super Stock) so I include an additional element. Since our cars sometimes sit without being started for several weeks between races, I encourage the draining of the block at the end of each event. Some people have issues of becoming impatient with the process of bleeding air out of the system when it's refilled so I provide a bleeding system at the rear of the heads. On one head (either side, depending on the preference of the customer) I terminate the line with a 90 degree fitting while the other head gets a "T" fitting. The two heads are connected but an additional line extends from the other side of the "T" for another 18 inches or so and ends with a plug or a cap fitting. This dead end can be opened during the filling operation to allow trapped air to escape while the system fills with water. The loose end doesn't need to be fastened to anything, it simply lies along the side of the manifold until you need to bleed out air during the next filling. It may seem like a lot of trouble but it is certainly better than sending someone to the starting line with a big air bubble in the cooling system and possibly dealing with a serious overheating problem. We intend to operate the engines below 180 degrees and that's hard to do when the radiator and block are only partially filled.

 

The factory steam tube connects the two heads AND then routes the coolant back to the radiator (93/94) or through the throttle body (95-97) to the radiator. The radiator supposedly has a vapor separtor to remove the steam and air bubbles.

 

That makes sense. Thanks for the picture. Guess that's what I get for only dealing with core takeouts. Having a place for the trapped air to escape is what it's all about.