heater core> by pass or plug?

gentlemen, i finally got my engine running (thanks to carl for making a road trip). anyway i looped a piece of hose where the heater core would be normally hooked up. is this allowing too much water to go around the radiator? would i be better off plugging it instead? zbob...thanks for the teck info...

I'd just plug them, it's much neater if you don't need a heater.

thanks dfree

It really depends upon the engine and the amount of temperature it normally runs at.
Simply by-passing the heater core will allow the engine to get heat faster however, it could allow to much water to by-pass the radiator for THAT particular engine and run hotter; maybe not.
Same with a normal by-pass hose - it is meant to be used when a thermostat is used so the cooling system doesn't see pressure spikes when the thermostat is closed so, if you are running just a restrictor in place of a thermostat, a normal "heat by-pass" and by-passing the heater core will do the same things.
To what degree of by-pass is needed is the question and each engine combination is different.
AS said, some don't want any and some can make use of a lot.

thank you sir!.....bobn