Matt Black "Rubber Look" Silicone Hoses
Discussion
Right, first off I want to be 100% clear...in my opinion there's absolutely nothing wrong with rubber coolant hoses.
In fact rubber hoses are proven and known to have a good service life, in my experience OEM rubber hosing usually lasts 18-25 years before it can start to show signs of perishing.
But with many Chimaeras (including mine) now getting on for 20 years old I'm inclined to think the need for coolant hose replacement will be inevitable at some point in the not so distant future.
And personally I'm a subscriber to the "replace it before it fails" school of TVR maintenance, so I went looking for new coolant hoses.
Actually I originally wanted rubber to keep the original look, and like I say there's nothing actually wrong with good old 20 year service life rubber, but it seems a full set of new rubber coolant hoses for the Chimaera isn't that easy to come by.
Which forced me to consider these new fangled silicone hoses, but this also presented me with a bit of dilemma
Horses for courses and all that but I'm not a fan of the chav Subaru blue, red or even shiny black silicone hoses on a Chimaera, I'm a firm believer Peter Wheeler created the Chimaera as a modern classic so for me there are certain things like colourful or shiny hoses that just don't look right on this car.
Given my history its pretty obvious I've got no issues with improvements and modifications, in fact it's quite apparent if done well and using the right parts you can really enhance this much overlooked modern classic.
So after much agonising I've found my best compromise by going with matt black silicone coolant hoses.
If they can give me 20 years reliable service like the good old original rubber hoses have... I'll be happy.
However, I remain cautiously skeptical of silicone, what do you think?
In fact rubber hoses are proven and known to have a good service life, in my experience OEM rubber hosing usually lasts 18-25 years before it can start to show signs of perishing.
But with many Chimaeras (including mine) now getting on for 20 years old I'm inclined to think the need for coolant hose replacement will be inevitable at some point in the not so distant future.
And personally I'm a subscriber to the "replace it before it fails" school of TVR maintenance, so I went looking for new coolant hoses.
Actually I originally wanted rubber to keep the original look, and like I say there's nothing actually wrong with good old 20 year service life rubber, but it seems a full set of new rubber coolant hoses for the Chimaera isn't that easy to come by.
Which forced me to consider these new fangled silicone hoses, but this also presented me with a bit of dilemma
Horses for courses and all that but I'm not a fan of the chav Subaru blue, red or even shiny black silicone hoses on a Chimaera, I'm a firm believer Peter Wheeler created the Chimaera as a modern classic so for me there are certain things like colourful or shiny hoses that just don't look right on this car.
Given my history its pretty obvious I've got no issues with improvements and modifications, in fact it's quite apparent if done well and using the right parts you can really enhance this much overlooked modern classic.
So after much agonising I've found my best compromise by going with matt black silicone coolant hoses.
If they can give me 20 years reliable service like the good old original rubber hoses have... I'll be happy.
However, I remain cautiously skeptical of silicone, what do you think?
I think mine are a bit like that! I'll have a look when I have 5.
With the silicone hoses in black I think it compliments the car well.
It's true that they dull off a bit anyway, but soon clean up again, I think the shine helps prevent stuff sticking to em or something.
Good clips are more important than shiny to me.
With the silicone hoses in black I think it compliments the car well.
It's true that they dull off a bit anyway, but soon clean up again, I think the shine helps prevent stuff sticking to em or something.
Good clips are more important than shiny to me.
Not into silicone myself. Black rubber however is definitely the way to go (or rather keep going). There's something about black rubber that you just can't get with silicone. I've always liked black rubber. It's not just the look either... It's the smell too... There's a company not far from me that will make almost anything in black rubber. Long live black rubber. We love it.
ChilliWhizz said:
Not into silicone myself. Black rubber however is definitely the way to go (or rather keep going). There's something about black rubber that you just can't get with silicone. I've always liked black rubber. It's not just the look either... It's the smell too... There's a company not far from me that will make almost anything in black rubber. Long live black rubber. We love it.
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