blocking coolant flow on the heads?

Im desinging an intake manifold similar to the ls6's one thing i failed to consider was the ford has a coolant passage from one head to the other. I understand it is needed for cooling, but im curious if anyone has blocked that off for the hell of it, or maybe similar to myselt, they did it for an intake. I want to know if this caused it to run hotter or if it overheated
 
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I've never done it, but I know that head gaskets must face a certain way because of the coolant provisions made in them. If you turn them facing the wrong way, coolant cannot leave the heads and get in the intake. I have read several threads on the internet pertaining to cooling problems where someone turned the gaskets the wrong way and blocked the coolant. Basing this off of internet posts, I would say you would definetly experience over heating, but I have no first hand experience with it. Also, I believe that the coolant leaves the heads, flows through the intake and then through the thermostat. Without the coolant provisions in the intake, I don't see how it would work without redesigning half the system.
 
I know there is the waterpump that moves coolant, but im not sure of the flow, because there is the passages from the front of the block. There are the two lines fromheater core which also goes into the reat portion of the lower intake. Then there is the return from the thermostat housing. So there is definitely a bit of work ahead of me
 
if i remember right it goes from the front of the block to the back then from the back of the heads forward to the thermostat
 
Yeah Ive never done this on a street car unless the heads are plumbed direct, and at that point it really is a RACE style set-up but it is needed when you make a more race style intake. The lower rad hose feeds the water pump, the upper rad hose is the return. If the thermo is closed water is directed to the bypass hose.

Here's what I use:

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Wilson Manifolds coolant manifold is designed to allow for efficient cooling of your engine. Collecting coolant from both ends of each cylinder head provides uniform cooling while helping to eliminate dangerous hot spots. Consistent cooling also helps maintain repeatability round after round. Adapts up to four inlets into a single 1 1/2" hose outlet and includes a radiator cap provision.
 

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I know there is the waterpump that moves coolant, but im not sure of the flow, because there is the passages from the front of the block.

Coolant flow... from the water pump into the block, 1 port on each side. Coolant moves thru the block to the rear. At the rear of the block, coolant moves up into the heads, then moves forward through the heads. At the front of the heads, coolant moves into the crossover tube, the 2 sides of coolant finally coming together at the thermostat. Then it's easy... upper hose, radiator, lower hose back to the inlet on the pump.

There are the two lines fromheater core which also goes into the reat portion of the lower intake.

Woops... not on a 5.0. Coolant flows out of the intake manifold crossover to the heater core and returns to an inlet on the water pump. This line from the crossover to the heater core also has the ECT (Engine Coolant Temp Sensor) for the computer.

There's also a thermostat bypass hose. This is pretty important because it allows a small amount of coolant to flow past the t-stat back into the water pump, eliminating hot spots and allowing for a more even warm up.
 
Thanks for the knowledge guys. I now have a better understanding of what to do, and how to do it.

For a little info on what Im making, its an intake for motor swapped cars like the miata and rx7. The manifold will be very similar to the ls6 or lsxr. Im looking at making it with different interchangable runners and seeing what it can do.