I've been doing sporadic research for several months now but a puking water pump has increased the urgency of deciding exactly how I want to do my coolant reroute.

Pertinent data:
93 1.6 engine
FMII turbo system - water cooled turbo
FM aluminum race radiator & Stage II cooling fan assy.

My criteria:
Low cost but using quality parts without cheaping out on anything.
Reliability - I don't want to have to do anything over or have problems in the AZ summer heat.
Aesthetics - I want to completely remove the thermostat housing to clean up the front of the engine (since I'll be doing the timing belt/water pump very soon I'll cap the water outlet while I've got it apart).

While I respect the engineering and ease of installation of a Bell or M-Tuned reroute kit, I think it can be done just as well for much less. I also don't think that the remote thermostat setup of the M-Tuned kit is the best way to go about it.

My plan:

Remove the entire thermostat housing and install freeze plug and block-off plate (Trackspeed has just made this kit available for a decent price - how convenient!).

Connect AIV coolant outlet hose directly to turbo coolant inlet.

Install original thermostat housing and thermostat directly to the rear of the head. Extend wiring for the fan temp sensor on the thermostat housing. Rough measurements show that the sensor should have firewall clearance - barely. If there's not enough room, plan B would involve relocating the fan temp sensor to the gauge temp sensor port (unused since the temp sensor for my aftermarket temp gauge was relocated). This assumes they are the same thread (?).

Remove cursed water plug fitting and utilize the port for heater hose connection and ECU temp sensor via a tee fitting (this will probably require some creativity - suggestions are welcome).

GM SUV radiator hose from radiator to new rear outlet (may require some creative routing or alternative hose configuration due to remote oil filter mounted on firewall).



Does anybody see any problems with this? Any suggestions, ideas, pointers, constructive criticism, additional resources, etc. are heartily welcomed.

 

Ok guys, my post has been up for 2 days and nobody has tried to shoot any holes in my reroute plans. Is it really going to be that easy or is it just being ignored because it's "yet another coolant reroute thread"?

 

whatever you do, i recommend the begi rear spacer along with the kia water neck. looked at all the threads I could and all the kits out there, and the thermostat back there (not a remote like the m-tuned one) actually in the head of the car was what seemed to be the best option. then just do some custom routing of your lines however you want to the turbo

the inlet into the water pump (lower radiator hose) from Begi works well.

Then comes the option of having your return line from the heater core back into the correct side of the radiator (top side)

a lot of it is just finding the right hoses, or fittings. not rocket science, but finding what works.

yes, this is just another coolant reroute thread

 

Welcome to 2007!

https://www.miataturbo.net/general-miata-chat-9/beginning-my-spacerless-coolant-reroute-12027/

 

^ lawlz... but seriously what you are attempting to do is nothing new.