I cant' believe no one never installed a high rise intake that the water jacket is higher than the expansion tank level. Thus creating an air pocket in the intake cooling system. I can probably raise the expansion tank an inch or so but will this fix my problem?

 

Would an 1/8" hole in the T-stat solve your air pocket problem?

 

I just did this last evening on a suggestion from someone else on the forum, but I did'nt get a chance to drive the car yet. My main concern is that my intake isn't flooded at all times. Does it have to be?

 

I don't know as I am not familiar with that setup, but I would think a hole might help.

 

I don't know if you really have a problem. I have seen expansion tanks mounted at various levels on different cars. You also have to realize there are several things besides height of an intake manifold. You have a system that is pressurized to a certain extent because a water pump and a pressure cap. When fluid is transferred back and forth to the expansion tank it is due to thermosiphoning through the pressure cap to the tank. This occurs with the car parked after the engine is stopped after being brought to temperature when it was running. If the fluid expands due to pressure and heat it travels to the expansion tank from the radiator. Then when the car starts to cool it creates a little vacuum to siphon from the expansion tank back to the radiator to keep the system full. As long as the hose to the expansion is covered with coolant you should not have a problem unless your engine a considerable distance from the expansion tank. I've seen cars with no expansion tank as well, [mostly due to Bubba removing things] get along without too much trouble. Years ago cars did not have them at all. Most people due not pay attention to things when dealing with a cooling system, is my pressure cap working properly and is the thermostat working properly? If either one is bad you can being chasing problems with the system. When I had a garage I had one of those hand held pumps for testing radiator caps. It would let you know right away with your cap was good and you could also pressurize the radiator to 15 lbs and it would show if your hoses intake etc were leaking. Very handy. Also I put thermostats in a pan of water with a thread run through the opening. When it falls off the string when the water warms up I read a thermometer to see if the stat opens when it should. You would be surprised how far some are off,