Cooling hoses - silicon or not?

[mav 1]

My water feed tube is knackered (the metal is very rusted and the paint has flaked off.

I have found a replacement rubber bit here: http://www.racetechdirect.co.uk/product-subsection.... it looks the same shape but does anyone knoe if the rubber is a good replacement for the original metal part?

Other websites offer the full silicon hoses - but none of these have the extra little tube coming off of them - are the silicon tubes not replacements for this water feed tube? As shown here: http://www.actproducts.co.uk/hoses.php - are the silicon hoses on the right replacements for the metal ones on the left?

And how easy is the water feed tube to replace - looks like just 3 jubilee clips.

Thanks guys - I will upload a piccy of the state of mine in a mo.....and here it is:

Edited by mav 1 on Wednesday 3rd September 21:35

[V8 Animal]

Ive just bought a set of silicone pipes from ACT but bought the stainless steel pipe the one your referring to aswell.
Thought it would go well with the silicone hoses.
Ring tim and ask him if he sells a silicon direct replacement pipe but the metal one does look good imo.
4 week delivery BTW
V8 Animal

[WOO5IE]

I Think you will find that the 'rubber one' from Race Tech is metal as the original. Just painted black


Trev

[AlexB]

I would think that the metal pipe should be replaced by another metal pipe. I guess that the metal pipes are used to provide some structure to the coolant path and ensure that the rubber pipes running from it cannot contact hot or moving parts - silicon pipes might not provide the required support - is it worth the risk of dropping coolant and overheating?

I've just had a look at the racetech item and it looks to me as though it is a metal part like the original - just painted black - the stainless one from ACT looks cheaper (and probably nicer in the engine bay!)

Good luck
Alex

[450Nick]

The ACT Stainless one is the one you want, and it can be found and bought here at their new online shop:

http://www.actproducts.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_p...

[mav 1]

Thanks for the feedback guys - the silicon hoses with the stainless steel water feed tube sounds like a nice idea.....

Is all this stuff easy to fit? I'm ok at mechanical stuff and willing to try, just not experienced.

[AlexB]

Cooling hoses etc are usually quite easy to fit - as you say undo a couple of hose clips, pull out and replace - although I've not tried on the TVR yet! The main problems would be accessibility for routing the pipes, but there shouldn't be too many problems in the Chim engine bay. I would suggest buying new hose clips as old ones can be a real pain if they have corroded.
Good Luck
Alex

[450Nick]

Yeah its all pretty easy to fit. Just remember that you'll most likely need to trim the silicon hoses to fit as all TVRs are slightly different. You just need to drain the coolant out, pull the old hoses off, put the new on and trim to fit, then refit the jubilee clips and refill the system. Keep an eye on your coolant level though even if you think you've bled it pretty well as there always seems to be some air left in there which finds its way out after the first drive.