The 1.0L geo engine is designed to be transverse FWD and so the radiator hoses do not come to the front of the engine like a RWD car. In fact, the come out the BACK of the engine. What I've done to fix it is take the water pump and remove the internals, so the pump housing is now just a passage that a hose can connect right out to the front of the engine.
For the back of the motor, I used a u-bend in steel and made a flange to connect it to the block. I removed the thermostat housing and the coupling that the temp sensors plug into. This frees up a lot of space in the back of the engine. The distributor is still there, but if/when I convert it to a COP ignition, the length of the motor will be pretty short (like a 3-cyl should be).
I have decided that I'm not going to do the hybrid setup to make it simpler and less complicated so I can finish this project. So I will be putting in a regular starter for the engine. However, my plan is to remove the alternator and use an external electric water pump, so effectively I get a little bit of plug-in hybrid effect and can use battery power to get more MPG.
I'm wondering how it is best to set this up. There isn't a lot of external electric water pumps that I know of, particularly ones that can handle 220F water temps. I'm also considering what to do about a thermostat and water temp controls. My thoughts are to use a sump pump and put it inside an insulated container that will maintain hot water to warm up the engine quickly. In fact I want to go further, and create an electric water heater that will heat up the water with the pump circulating it BEFORE the engine starts up, so there will not be a cold-start period. The water is circulated through the intake manifold to heat it up to improve MPG in this engine.
So I'm thinking I need a water heater somewhere. Putting some coils in the insulated box with the pump seems appropriate, but I'm wondering if I might just run current through the entire radiator itself to heat the water!!??
Your opinions and thoughts appreciated.
Jack