A buddy of mine has an 85 westy.  He had a piece of the cooling system break, necessitating a tow home.  He asked me to come over and look at it.  Anyway, the cooling system looks differently than my old 2.1 l, and certainly different than my TIICo now.

The piece that broke is on the left front of the engine compartment.  It looks like a Siamese-union for out and back hoses.  There is another smaller jumper-hose coming into the top union, with what looks like a small valve on it.

What is the purpose of this piece?  Can it be eliminated?  If it cannot be eliminated, where is the best place to acquire this piece?

Bob
East Haddam, CT