1965 Chevy Pickup & Hemi Hydro combo

I wanted to add a cooling system, but had no idea where to start, since it's a boat and I'm a landlubber! So my good buddy Pete over on Scale Avenue posted a link for me...

Marine Cooling Systems

So looking at the diagram for Open Cooling system, I'll need a water pump, thermostat above it, and a line for the water from the back of the boat. Then a couple of lines from the thermostat housing to the headers. I've got some stuff to make, this has bugged me for a while now!

Now where am I gonna be able to put the lines to those funky headers? Maybe I can add some more to the flanges and run it there?

BTW, I'm planning on using the Open Cooling system just to make it easier, with one small modification because of the headers. After all the work I did to make 'em look right, I'm going to eliminate the risers because I don't want to ruin the look of the headers. But I will be trying to find a way to get the lines from the thermostat housing to the lower side of the headers at least, I'm still trying to figure that part out!

http://www.boatinghowto.com/content/how-boat-cooling-systems-work-240/

And here's what I'll be using for the cooling lines! I found that the antenna cables we use for our backup cell units at work is actually a very small coax, so it's a real braided line!

this is an awesome build so far bud, love the details

Thanks Wayne, since the engine for the boat is fully visible, I want it to look better than what came in the box!

OK, here's the pics of what I made to pass for a thermostat housing. I started with a styrene tube, opened it up enough for the braided line to fit in, and took a notch out of the center so I could make it angled to get around the heads. Then I grabbed a piece of parts tree and made the thermostat housing section of it. A bit of glue for the notched section, and a bit of sanding, and we have a roughed-in thermostat housing and attachment for the braided lines, probably not 100% accurate, but it'll look good enough for me!

A quick mock-up on the engine...I've still got to make a flange for the base of the housing, but that should be simple!





I'm thinking I'll make the braided line connect to the headers right where the first tube connects to that large curve area....I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to do that!



The beginnings of the water pickup tube for the whole system, it'll go to the back of the boat, probably close to the edge on the left side.



And I dug out a pair of air cleaners, I think these will look right at home on top of this engine!