Revision as of 21:52, 26 August 2016

Coolant passages are below the intake ports in some A-series Cylinder Heads. They can be large holes or small holes.

1 Overview

Overview

Water ports keep the bottom of the manifold plenum at a hotspot for complete air/fuel burning, even at low throttle.

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A12GX has Four Large coolant holes, one beneath each inlet

Other heads have either no coolant holes, small ones, or a mix:

Standard Datsun 1200 heads have no coolant holes on the intake side.

Water outlet
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Interchange

A-series heads will interchange with either dry or wet Intake Manifold with the following caveats:

If the intake doesn't have coolant passages, tap the head's coolant ports and install plugs
If the intake has coolant ports, but the head doesn't, it may bolt on without modifications. Idle and low-throttle running may suffer due to insufficient heat. However, heavy throttle operation should be OK.

Port Plugging

Two methods
* drill, tap and fit plugs
or
* use RTV sealant plugs

Discussion: H89 water gallery pluging?

Screw-in Plugs

Directions for plugging the cylinder head with blind plugs:
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Nissan plug parts
99996-H1149 STUD & PLUG KIT

You can buy grub screws in many places, most auto shops for example. Measure the hole, tap the mext mm up and screw in a plug. A bit of form-a-gasket, copper seal or anti-seize on the threads will help prevent corrosion and seizing.

Nissan Competition head 99996-H1165

RTV Plugs

If your dry inlet manifold comes down far enough to cover the holes, you can use silicone sealer like this:
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This is an easy way to seal it, but coolant may leak when you change the manifold. Just re-seal it each time. By contrast, blind plugs are a one-time semi-permanent solution.

Used RTV silicone sealer. After fitting the intake/exhaust gasket, before fitting the intake manifold, press some RTV into the water ports, the put a button of goo over it. Let it tack up slightly before fitting the intake.