vh45 coolant options

[ch187]

as you guys know the vh is an open valley block. they have hoses going all the way into head. when we got vh for our project (vh45 in an s13 coupe) every hose was dry rotted and cracked.

My question is this. im sure you can do this but ive only seen it once and would like some input on it. i was thinking about hard piping the coolant lines all the way into the head. aluminum pipe is cheap and it doesnt seem hard. i think ive only seen it on the vk45 race trucks.

also we plan on running ITBs, fabricating everything. so we are trying to find the easiest most efficient way of doing this. and has anyone closed the valley on a vh? i dont plan on doing this but i know that most american v8s are but im not sure which one is better.
Modified by ch187 at 9:59 PM 6/19/2007

[defrag010]

I don't know what you mean by open deck, but the VH is a closed deck block. do you mean open valley?

[ch187]

yeah ive heard it called many things. i forget where i heard open deck from but do you understand what i mean. post is edited

[ScottJackson]

Aluminum pipe is easy to bend and such, but it also work hardens rather quickly. Vibration and/or repeated bending/flexing will crack it.

[ch187]

yeah thats true. i want something simple. heater hose is cheap. thats probably what i'll do.