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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - PVC pipe for rad hoses?

Here is a thought that is rife with potential for ridiculousness, but I thought I'd ask. I was installing some PVC plumbing pipe this weekend, and it hit me: could we use this stuff for radiator hoses, or at least parts of same? Or wouldn't it stand up to the heat in the engine bay? I ask partially because I'm tired of replacing the lower hose due to its either getting squashed by the front of the oil pump or being cut by the fan belt. You could easily make the perfect shape.

There must be a good reason why no one's done this ...
Ted

I don't know pvc overly well, but we are talking about high heat, decent pressure and high stress. All of these things are things that PVC does not like. PVC is a brittle material and I would think it would fail in a catastophic way.

I a have seen a bunch of cars that have the "spiral" hoses. They are available from www.summitracing.com in polish or black. Another rout is actual metal tubing, typically chrome exterior.
Larry Embrey

Ted,

As a chemistry major in college and what I know about materials science, PVC pipe is good for non caustic fluids at moderate temperatures. anything over 100 oC will bend most varieties of PVC piping (in fact, thats how you bend straight pipe, you heat it up or put it in boiling water or hot oil). I would suggest against automotive use.

Mike

Mike

Looking for a cheap, good looking solution? Have you looked at drain traps and under sink plumbing? If you can't splurge for some ss AN line, then this makes a inexpensive fix adding a little bright work. You can cut the bends as needed to make the shape you need, then use a little piece of hose on either end. Used it before, but haven't looked at this application for it, but metal will be a little more wear abrasion resistant and it comes chrome plated to boot!

Luke
Luke Staley

Ted - I've had the same problem and fabricated a guard to fit between belt and hose. As well as protecting hose from belt it also allows me to move the hose far enough forward to clear the oil pipe/pump.

See the above web site and click 'Spanners', 'V8 Stuff' and 'Hose Guard'.

PaulH.

Paul Hunt

I had to spend about an hour at the local parts houses going through their hoses, as well as making a couple of trips to test fit, but I ended up with a lower hose that is just right for my car. I think it was L59 from autozone. YMMV.
Jim Blackwood


I don't know about PVC... But I've had good luck with steel tubing that we bent to shape.
(Since we didn't have a machine to bend the tubing, we packed it with sand, heated
it with an oxy-acetalene torch, and bent it by hand...) It's installed with short pieces
of hose at both ends. I didn't have it plated - I simply painted it. Besides being tough,
and totally resistant to collapsing at the bends, what I like about it is that we welded
a boss into the radiator tube just before the entrance to the water pump and then routed
a line up to the expansion tank (which on my car is mounted real high - up on the
passenger side firewall). The reason we plumbed the expansion tank in at the entry
port of the water pump was to assure we never get an air bubble there. We have a very
small diameter vent tube from the top tank of the radiator to the expansion tank too.
Curtis

This thread was discussed between 22/10/2001 and 26/10/2001

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