Hello, I'm new to third gens. Is the heater hose supposed to connect to the radiator rather than the water pump? The radiator on my recently acquired 84 Z28 has what appears to be a heater hose outlet on the radiator tank below the filler neck. The previous owner plugged it with a short length of hose. The hoses are now connected to the manifold and a replacement water pump like every other small block I have had. Just wondering what the correct hose routing should be.

Thanks,
Mike

 

don't know if i'll be much help but i'll try. I can't think how my 84 is set up since it's been dead for a while but I can describe my 82. below my fill cap I have a thin hose that runs to the overfill tank. then below that hose is a spot is another location for a hose. on mine it has a rubber cap/hose that has a clamp on it. don't know if this is for draining or what. it's just blocked off. below it is a metal line running out of the radiator and on the very bottom a large hose going to the water pump. this is all top to bottom from my fill cap. maybe i've help. I hope

 

I've never seen...or even heard of the heater hoses being hooked to the radiator. water pump and manifold is all I know of for a small block.

 

my fault. I don't know what I was thinking. the heater hoses to the core is what your asking. the black one( if your's is black. the thinner hose) goes into the manifold and the orange( if yours is this color.the thicker hose) goes to the top or side of the water pump. sorry for the confusion. I'm not thinking very clearly.

 

technically....it can go either way.

on the older setups,the flow line caem from the water pump,into the heatercore,then out to the intake manifold

on the newer setups,depending on tbi or TPI....it goes from the intake manifold,into the throttle body,out of the throttle body,then into the heatercore,and the return line dumps into the radiator,just under the filler neck.

personally...id route it like the newer setups...less clutter,and no hoses laying across your valve covers.

 

Thanks for the responses. My setup is exactly how KITT84 described. Nice to hear, IROClb9, that the return line can go either to the intake or the radiator tank. I much prefer the uncluttered look as shown in your picture. I'm just starting to work on my carbureted 84 Z and can't believe how many hoses etc. I have to work around to change the valve cover gaskets.

Thanks again,
Mike

 

radiator hookup is super common

the radiator i got from an 89 for mny 82 is heater hose to the radiator

the water pump port gets blocked off with a pipe plug

alot of the trucks are like this, as well

at least half of them, especially with HD cooling system option and also the larger engine options too such as the 400 and 454, etc

its the 3/4" hose that gets connected to either the rad or the w/p

the 5/8" is always on the intake regardless


good luck

 

Thanks Randy, good information. It's an L69 motor that I'm just beginning to get into (routine tune up, maintenance etc.). I'll be posting more questions soon as I start delving into the pollution hook ups and carb adjustments.

Mike