m25xp pipe threads

[Stu Jackson]

Nice work.

Do you actually have room for that ball valve?  Will the companionway white horizontal cover actually close with that valve sticking up so much?

[mdidomenico]

dunno yet.  i haven't rebuilt that panel yet so i have some flexibility in it's height from the stock location.  also keep in mind the valve is only barely screwed onto the nipple fitting, so it'll come down a fair bit.  also keep in mind the picture distorts things a little, the valve is only 2" in length end to end, so it's not really that tall.  the handle is a bit tall though, fortunately the closed position is horizontal.  worst case if it doesn't even come close to fitting i can screw on a cap when not in use or get a 90 elbow.  the nice thing though is now i have options.  1/4" brass/bronze fittings are hard to find (that aren't yellow brass), 1/8" fittings are even worse if not impossible.  these fittings came from buck alonquin who confirmed them as 8-5-5-5 red brass and marine safe

[Stu Jackson]

Again, nice work.

For those who may not have seen this (and I'm sure you have):

Engine Overheating 101 - How to Burp Your Engine (Reply #6)  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4518.msg26462.html#msg26462

[Jon W]

On a MK1 with the engine cover in the original position, it will not close with the ball valve installed vertically. For reference I use a 1/8" M/F ball valve which is slightly less than 2" overall length. Bleeding the coolant system is not a regular event for me. So I remove the ball valve and install a 1/8" NPT plug. Works great, easy enough to reinstall the ball valve.

Something else to be aware of is the routing of the crankcase breather hose. Mine goes towards the thermostat, so the orientation of the handle on the ball valve is important.