Coolant Lines

A challenging part of this build for me has been the coolant lines.  Since the whole setup is custom and the radiator has been moved, there aren’t any pre-made to fit coolant lines available at auto stores, so I had to work with what I had and what I could find.  For the top radiator hose, I cut a straight section out of the previous hose I had.  The coolant return pipe for the passat also no longer fit in place because of the new TT manifold, so I had to cut that pipe and extend it with another hose I had laying around.

Then, for the coolant return from the turbo, I had to find a new solution, because the upgraded turbo had too short of a line.  I bought some new coolant line that they sell by the foot at Autozone and also got a double sided barbed fitting so that I could basically just extend that line.  The expansion tank hoses fit the same as they did previously, which was very convenient.

For the heater core hoses, I ran one with the same coolant line as the oil cooler used to have.  It fit perfectly.  for the other, I used a straight section of the “by the foot” coolant hose that I had and I made it fit.  The oil cooler lines were ran with several brass fittings and silicone heater hose from Lowe’s.  In this picture, you can see the expansion tank, return line extension, and heater core hoses:

The hardest part of the coolant hoses was the bottom radiator (or feed) hose. It was a tight fit and needed 2 extreme angles.  Utilizing the old lower rad hose, I cut it in half to get a 90 degree turn that I wanted.  From there I went to Autozone to search for a “U” type coolant hose and connector that was about the same diameter.  That was a fun conversation with an employee from Autozone:

AZ: “Well, what car did you say this was for?”

Me: “Trust me, it’s not in  your computer, just let me look at the hoses you have in stock.”

He did let me look, and I found  “u” bend hose that I thought might just work.  They didn’t have any connectors that big, so I just bought a piece of exhaust pipe that I could hose clamp both ends onto.  From there, it was just about cutting the two hoses the right length to fit.  I think it turned out pretty well actually!  What do you think?

The only thing that was left after that was the turbo coolant feed line, which basically lined up.  I just bent it a little bit and it slid right on.  Also in this picture, you can see that I put the drive axle in place and realized that the oil return from the turbo rubbed against it.  that’s no good, so I put one of those brass 90 degree fitting in there and it fits just perfectly:

Here’s a teaser pic with the grille and headlights mounted up :-p

The oil and coolant lines and systems are now complete!