If you want to endure those yamdankee winters with no heater, go for it- - - -there's a reason people in Tennessee live here, and it has something to do with snow only sticking around for a day or three at a time! Just run a loop hose to circulate the coolant back to the water pump inlet from the heater outlet fitting. If the heater fittings are simply blocked off, it will create dead spots with no circulation and make the tendency to overheat more severe.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!