Nice install. Mine is not at pretty, but i do believe it makes a difference (with tuning also) getting that trapped heat/steam out of the rear cylinders.
Replacement steam vent / coolant crossovers
I wanted to share my steam vent upgrade with you all, as I am pleased with the outcome and it turned out to be slightly cheaper than the kits available elsewhere. Both of my OEM steam vent gaskets were basically corroded beyond use, and additionally I was able to cut out the now-brittle plastic connectors on the steam ports and the factory plastic T connectors on the return line. So I figure by the time I dicked around with replacing the OEM gaskets plus adding in the rear ports, I was already well into a whole new kit - which came up to around $160. There are cheaper ways, but this was pretty easy and I didn't have to chance any interference trying to reuse old OEM stuff off ebay.
The kit:
Two Earl's steam vent adapters, LS9806ERL ($40 per set of two)
Three straight AN-to-barb fittings ($5 ea)
Three 45-degree AN-to-barb fittings ($8 ea)
Two stainless 3/8 x 1/4 tee barb fittings, McMaster #5670K34 ($8 ea)
And ~8 feet of 1/4 fuel hose ($16)
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If you need to ADD rear ports to your cylinder heads, you'll probably need to remove the cover plate and/or plugs first:
Steam Vent Screw-up, Post #74
In my case, with aftermarket heads they were ready to go.
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The Earl's vent fittings are very nice, with the only annoying part being the o-rings have to be pressed into grooves to be captured with a small screwdriver or similar. In each box, you get a single port vent and a dual port vent to daisy-chain them as I have. They are 04AN thread, are swivel-adjustable and very nicely made. The swivel ports are NOT interchangeable between the single and dual designs, so if you find one doesn't want to work right you've got them mixed up.
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I also picked up some fancy stainless hose clamps (15.3mm), and used gasket maker / hose sealant on each connection. I don't want these fuckers to leak! However, when applied liberally to the barb fittings, the gasket maker will be more than sufficient so you can skip the worm clamps or whatever unless you really want those bitches to stay put. The bolts and clamps are all stainless and should provide excellent corrosion resistance; I also used blue loctite on all fasteners.
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Although we don't have rear vents from the factory, I daisy-chained both rear ports together via two standard 04AN barb fittings and fuel line. I used a 45-degree AN barb fitting for the vent line to clear the valve covers, and tied it into the existing coolant vent line for the radiator, at the "surge tank" near the wiper motor. There is plenty of room here so leave a little extra line, as the fuel lines effectively shorten as they're pushed up onto the barb fittings. I prefer a 45-degree barb, but if you're pinching pennies, using the cheaper single straight AN barb fittings here would be just fine.
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I followed the factory arrangement in the front: both front Earl's vent adapters are again daisy-chained via 04 AN barb fittings - but note that I used a 45-degree elbow on the passenger side for clearance near the PCV valley tube and to get under the blower snout. Again. a standard straight 04 AN barb adapter would work, but it would be really close; I think it just looks cooler this way. As with the rears, I used another 45-degree fitting to clear the valve cover and I ran the vent line to the same coolant hose on the driver's side fender and up into the surge tank. There is plenty of room here for the fittings, but leave enough slack in your 1/4" hose to route under the blower snout, as there is minimal clearance between the snout and water pump. I'd test fit with the blower in place, then remove the blower (or raise it in the front) so you can get everything snugged down and/or clamped together properly.
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The kit:
Two Earl's steam vent adapters, LS9806ERL ($40 per set of two)
Three straight AN-to-barb fittings ($5 ea)
Three 45-degree AN-to-barb fittings ($8 ea)
Two stainless 3/8 x 1/4 tee barb fittings, McMaster #5670K34 ($8 ea)
And ~8 feet of 1/4 fuel hose ($16)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you need to ADD rear ports to your cylinder heads, you'll probably need to remove the cover plate and/or plugs first:
Steam Vent Screw-up, Post #74
In my case, with aftermarket heads they were ready to go.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Earl's vent fittings are very nice, with the only annoying part being the o-rings have to be pressed into grooves to be captured with a small screwdriver or similar. In each box, you get a single port vent and a dual port vent to daisy-chain them as I have. They are 04AN thread, are swivel-adjustable and very nicely made. The swivel ports are NOT interchangeable between the single and dual designs, so if you find one doesn't want to work right you've got them mixed up.
I also picked up some fancy stainless hose clamps (15.3mm), and used gasket maker / hose sealant on each connection. I don't want these fuckers to leak! However, when applied liberally to the barb fittings, the gasket maker will be more than sufficient so you can skip the worm clamps or whatever unless you really want those bitches to stay put. The bolts and clamps are all stainless and should provide excellent corrosion resistance; I also used blue loctite on all fasteners.
Although we don't have rear vents from the factory, I daisy-chained both rear ports together via two standard 04AN barb fittings and fuel line. I used a 45-degree AN barb fitting for the vent line to clear the valve covers, and tied it into the existing coolant vent line for the radiator, at the "surge tank" near the wiper motor. There is plenty of room here so leave a little extra line, as the fuel lines effectively shorten as they're pushed up onto the barb fittings. I prefer a 45-degree barb, but if you're pinching pennies, using the cheaper single straight AN barb fittings here would be just fine.
I followed the factory arrangement in the front: both front Earl's vent adapters are again daisy-chained via 04 AN barb fittings - but note that I used a 45-degree elbow on the passenger side for clearance near the PCV valley tube and to get under the blower snout. Again. a standard straight 04 AN barb adapter would work, but it would be really close; I think it just looks cooler this way. As with the rears, I used another 45-degree fitting to clear the valve cover and I ran the vent line to the same coolant hose on the driver's side fender and up into the surge tank. There is plenty of room here for the fittings, but leave enough slack in your 1/4" hose to route under the blower snout, as there is minimal clearance between the snout and water pump. I'd test fit with the blower in place, then remove the blower (or raise it in the front) so you can get everything snugged down and/or clamped together properly.
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True. I am not familiar with this particular setup and was halfway assuming that the rear of the cylinder head may carry a high enough temp to boil the coolant (~270).
But please help me understand why we would hook to the high pressure side (hot side) of the pump instead of the OEM surge tank?
And to follow the water pump route - I understand that we would want to remove any non-condensables (air) that may be entrained in the system. However, assuming that we have only pure fluid flowing through this steam vent and given that the hose diameter is extremely small (low flow), would it not be beneficial to hook into the low side (cold or low pressure side) of the pump? The low side of the pump would effectively suck the fluid through this line, maximizing it's effectiveness. This would cause a re-circulation current as well, but quite small given the piping size. Just food for thought. And yes, I know that this would be a horrible idea
IMHO, the surge tank is a better location to tap into and I, personally, would take that route.
FYI the front driver side steam vent needs a 45* angle adapter to rotate forward / down for clearance on the Kong2650 - so I'd just get four of them if applicable.
As I posted above is fine for LSA blowers - just not the Kong2650:
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As I posted above is fine for LSA blowers - just not the Kong2650:
Jessie, curious for what you use for pics. My phone, unless I'm not setting it up right, is never so good in such a close mode.FYI the front driver side steam vent needs a 45* angle adapter to rotate forward / down for clearance on the Kong2650 - so I'd just get four of them if applicable.
As I posted above is fine for LSA blowers - just not the Kong2650:
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