Hi,

I am rebuilding the cooling system on a '57 Chevy sedan with a stock
283 V8. Since I only drive it in the summer, and have already
overspent, I want to just bypass the heater core for now.

I could easily make a little loop of hose from the manifold fitting to
the water pump, and I see with a Google search that this is well
documented in this group.  What I want to do, however, is put brass
plugs in the heater fittings in the intake manifold and water pump to
make things that much simpler and neater under the hood.

My concern is that the heater circuit provides some flow through the
block before the thermostat opens. Is this necessary? Will the spinning
water pump cause mischief before the thermostat opens?

As I understand the heating system on the vehicle, a valve effectively
plugs the heater core circuit anyway when you turn the heat off.

Thanks,

Bill