early Mopar water by pass and heaters

[trickydicky43richard]

In my search earlier on AACA for info on fitting a vintage heater to an early Chrysler it came to pass that some engines have a water bypass elbow connection from water pump to thermostat housing and some engines don't.

What is the purpose of the water bypass on some engines and not on others and is there a system of connecting a heater with or without the bypass plumbing??

Curious,

Rich

[jpage]

You don't say what year engines your looking at. I have 3 '36 Dodge 6 cyl. cars and they too have the small elbow at the top of the water pump that leads to the thermostat housing. I think most if not all were configured this way. As far as hooking up the heater; one car has is equipped with a nipple extending from the small elbow on the water pump for the heater hose; I don't know if this was a factory or an aftermarket accessory. The other two have nipples welded into the steel pipe that is part of the water return line. While none had factory fittings for the heater hose , all had a port on the right rear corner of the head for a water shut-off valve. Later on,maybe late '30's or '40's, the water pumps were modified with an outlet and plug on the right bottom corner of the water pump housing for heater hose fittings. All of the new aftermarket pumps are configured like this. I have also seen "Tee" fittings inserted into the water hoses for heater use. I would think that these adaptations were made by the installers, whether at the factory or at the dealership. Early on, heaters were an option but later they became standard equipment so parts were added or modified to accommodate the update. I'm sure some one will have a better answer for you.