Pinto Car Club of America

Hi 'ya folks,

First of all I realize I'm comparing apples to oranges, however I think there may be enough common ground to warrant your help.

OK,  Back in 2004 I put a 2.3L intake manifold and a 1974 Holley/Weber carburetor on my dad's '83 Ford Ranger truck.

The carburetor has the water type choke so I put a "T" in the heater core pipes and diverted the coolant to the choke.  This worked perfectly as far as the choke was concerned.   

The problem is I never bothered to test the heater function.  ... and my dad never complained about the heater... so I wasn't aware that the coolant flow was primarily bypassing the heater core and the truck had poor heater output.

I recently acquired the truck and here in Michigan a good heater is beneficial.

My question:
On a Pinto... are there two "circuits" for the coolant... ie one for the heater core and one for the choke? (Parallel circuit)

Normally, where does the choke get its coolant from? 

I discovered the truck uses a plenum diverter to control the air flow through the heater core.  I had originally thought the heater core on the truck had a water valve.  With this in mind, I could plumb the choke in "Series" with the heater core?.

Anyone want to attempt to get involved in this one?

BTW I had a '73 Pinto wagon in high school (class of 85)

My first thought is to check the heater core to see if it is plugged.You said the choke works ok ,so Im assuming the thermostat is opening and you have warm coolant going to the heater core.When I had a ranger  the hot warm control on the dash wasnt hooked up to the cable to switch it  You might check this also..

Whoops!,

I forgot to mention that I just put in a thermostat.  I also pulled the heater core yesterday and did a quick flush.

The hot air slider on the dash is connected, I can hear the door for the plenum diverter open and close.

Check out the diagrams. 

The first one is how the truck is currently configured.  As you can see there is sort of a bypass and the heater core doesn't get 100% of the coolant flow.
(http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h87/fujioko/ranger1.jpg)

The second diagram is my idea of a solution.  My concern is the choke thingy will restrict the flow of coolant to the core and cause basically the same issue.
(http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h87/fujioko/ranger2.jpg)

Or is the second diagram OK?

Nice sketches.  The water side of the choke housing is open inside and should provide minimal flow restriction.  Your second sketch of putting them in series should result in more heat out put from the heater (assuming engine is up to temperature).  Having the heater/valve and choke housing in series is the way the factory had it plumbed in the Pinto.  The only difference is that in the Pinto sourced the hot water from the intake manifold instead of the thermostat housing (sourcing form the intake would probably be more work for you and provide no performance gain).

YeeeeHaaaa!... Thanks a lot partner! 
That is sort of the answer I was looking for!

The choke gets coolant from the intake manifold via a very short piece of hose. The oulet of the choke housing goes to the bottom of the heater core, and the top hose from the heater core returns to the water pump.