1 hour ago, parrot said:

The "coolant bypass valve" is the heater tap.  I'm spending a lot of time trying to find one that works, though Peter Robinson put me onto an aftermarket option that fits elsewhere.  I still want an original one though.

Thanks Parrot!   Knowing what it actually is makes it easier to look for.

Mine looks like it's been butchered.  I'll strip it down and see if it's recoverable, but given it's clearly been cut off I don't like my chances.

I assume it wasn't working and my grandfather removed it to stop any leaks, rather than the more darwinistic approach of him trying to toughen us up for driving to the school bus in the cold.

I'll ask Peter about a replacement.  I'm not fussy on it being original, given the rest of the car is already a Frankenstein and my non-traditional engine paint job (the body will be white though).

Does anyone have any suggestions on coolant/heating/fuel hoses?  The ones I have with me look ok, but I don't know what I don't have at the vehicle.

Quote

The "coolant bypass valve" is the heater tap.  I'm spending a lot of time trying to find one that works, though Peter Robinson put me onto an aftermarket option that fits elsewhere.  I still want an original one though.

Ha Ha !   Riddle solved ! Never seen one before, unfortunately. My 52 year olde KE-30 2 door sedan, has a heater, but is connected to a 'mechanically actuated" heater coolant valve, via a tap unit; right on the back of the head, down in that narrow area between the back of the head, & the firewall. It's a hard place, even to take a picture.  I have modified it, so that without the heater in use, the coolant exits the rear of the head & returns to the thermostat housing, via a factory fitted pipe, running along the side of the engine, just below the spark plugs.  Works a treat, but as I said; is a hard thing to modify & fit with the engine in situ.  I think when I built it, I fabricated it on another head, on the bench; & then attached to the rear of the head in the car.  Never given me any issues.  Even without a heater; modifying the engine to return coolant to the front of the engine, from the moulding plate on the rear of the head, is one of the best mods to equalize coolant temps along the length of the head, & remove that "dead flow" area, in the water jacket at the back of the head, where is just fills up with coolant crude. 

I even have one on each of my two running test bed engines, on a frame in the garage, which I used to do all my trigger wheel experiments on. 

 

Cheers Banjo 

Edited March 12Mar 12 by Banjo

I may actually have a chance to recover this one.  After it met my evaporust bath and some vigorous brass brushing, a lot of the corrosion disappeared.

The arm still moves, albeit stiffly.  I suspect if I force it off I will remove whatever is left of it's seal.

The rubber stopper has seen better days.  As far as I can tell all that happens is it gets moved in front of the outlet valve.

Might have to ask around for a master welder to get the inlet pipe back on....

Hi John, 

               Very good Hi-Res photos you've taken. I blew up  that "moving wedge" piece, to see whether I could determine, whether it originally had a piece of rubber up against the pipe to stem the flow; or whether it was just metal to metal.  It's clear to see where the pipe end came up against it.

 

Cheers Banjo

I've got three or four heater taps in various states of disrepair, the idea being the same as you.  But i've never seen one apart before. Very interesting.  I missed out on a NOS one about 5 years ago, and have never seen another.

Pete recommended a Tru flow heater tap TFT4008.  He said he fits it under the air cleaner.  They vary from $25 to $60 (repco).  Anyway its an option.

I had the idea of stroking my original K-B block to keep the numbers, by putting a 3K crank in it. On assembly I discovered that's a no no, as the 3K block is actually a few mm higher, confirmed in a booklet I got from Japan.  My K block was pretty corroded internally, and the spare 3K block i had was quite a bit better so probably a blessing in disguise.  Although of course that needed to be prepared so more $$

 

Edited March 15Mar 15 by parrot

These are from the KE18 parts book and should tell you what you have/is missing/how to put it back together.