I take it you're rather disgruntled at your K series at the moment?
1. To have the radiator intake on the left hand side of radiator would mean a loss of at least a foot in the pipe. Therefore the coolant capacity would be a bit less and the cooling system would have to work a bit harder. The loss of this capacity (albeit very small) would probably be more of a problem than having the pipe directly above the exhaust manifold.
You could wrap your exhaust headers in exhaust heat wrap but then the heat would have to escape somewhere else (probably back into the head) which would be even more risky. The fact the exhaust header is right at the front of the engine is quite a good design as it gets good airflow while the car is moving. However, if you're holding your hand near there with the bonnet up there'll be pretty much no airflow at all and it would give the effect that it gets too hot.
2. With the voltages that are running through the coil, i'd have thought the coil would give off more heat itself than what is being transferred through the head AND the bracket which in my opinion acts as quite a good heatsink.
If you're feeling these two components are getting a little more heat than they should maybe your cooling system needs looking at or bleeding?
1) "a loss of at least a foot of coolent in the pipe" ???
its this foot that is causing the problems,
that foot of pipe is going to do 0 to help cool the engine, when its above the manifold.
the hose over the top of the manifold is a bad design end of.
2) the voltages that are running through the coil DONT give off more heat than the head, the worst place to have put it is bolted to the head, the best place is where they use to put it, bolted to somewhere where it can breath with a bit of air around it..
anyway its gone for good now YEEESSSSSS.
just befor i go let me say its has been the worst piece of Sh!* i have ever owned, i have had nothing but problems with it, if it was not one thing its another, i HATED it,,,, so Just got an AUDI ....50 MPG, and al never look back.
i hope you all have better luck with yours.
by the way if you 1.8 keeps stopping like its running out of fuel,and when you fill up its fine, this is only because the head pressure of fuel is forcing the fuel past the blockage, untill the pressure becomes less then it stops again, do this.....take the pump out of the tank, take it apart clean it out, the filter at the bottom clean this. BUT mainly the tin can inside, it will be full of black crap, clean it out with clean petrol or get a new one, this will cure the stopping.
