| Author |
Message |
Greg Owens (Owens84qv)
Member
Username: Owens84qv
Post Number: 450
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 26, 2002 - 11:52 am: | |
The easiest and best place IMHO (I've thought about this since the first time I performed this operation) would be to install a drain plug in one of pipes at the forward part of the car near the brake system proportioning valve (behind a 1' x 2'plate under the car).
As far as the engine block goes, I simply get a two-litre bottle, cut it in half, attach a 1" ID hose to the narrowed end of the bottle, place it under the drain cock and funnel the coolant into a catch pan. I didn't have a single drop on the floor. |
Don McCormick (Dandy_don)
New member
Username: Dandy_don
Post Number: 21
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 25, 2002 - 8:07 pm: | |
After reading of some fellow enthusiasts desires for a way to drain the coolant out of the block and the radiator without spilling it everywhere I thought I would try and do something about it. The stock drain cocks when opened don't allow you to attach anything to them so that you can drain away the coolant without a big mess. Well, it seemed to me that a way to do it would be to adapt standard brass valves with compression fitting connections on one end (to attach a removable brass tubing to be used when you wanted to drain into a bucket) to the ports in both the block and the radiator. It turned out that both can be done but each presents its own problem.
The radiator opening- Lots of space here and the complexity is in making the adapter from the Ferrari female threads in the radiator to the NPT pipe threads typically found on brass valves. The Ferrari internal radiator threads are a 14 mm but with a 1.0 pitch. This turns out to be a very unusual combination and I had to send away for a 14x1 tap so the machinist could make a nut to test the threads that he put onto a brass fitting that I bought (one end of fitting oversized so the mechanic could turn it down to male 14mm x 1 pitch threads and the other end already set up with NPT threads to screw into my brass valve). Anyway, after assembling with teflon tape it works like a charm and doesn't seem to leak after running the car. I still need to road test and report on this after I have some miles on the assembly.
The harder one was the one at the block drain. The female internal threads in the block (14x1.5 pitch) are more common but there is no room to screw on the valve after the adapter is inserted as the exhaust manifold is in the way and I was not going to disassemble all that for a stupid coolant drain. So I found a steel 90 degree two part fitting (an air conditioning fitting I believe) that a machinist was able to put new metric threads on one end and allowed me to thread on the brass valve without rotating the brass valve and hitting the exhaust manifold. Anyway this one also seems to hold pressure and I will report after I have some miles on it. I could send pix this weekend if anyone is interested and if I can figure out how to send pix- never having tried before.
The only thing needed now is for someone to figure out a way to install a drain fitting in the lowest part of the system (lower aluminum pipe as it exits the cockpit and enter the engine bay???). Would this best be done in the aluminum tube or could it be done in one of the rubber hoses? Does any of this make any sense at all? or have I solved a problem which did not exist? Don |
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