Main Water Tubes

What do most replicas use for the main water tubes that go thru the central tunnel connecting the radiator to the motor.

Mine are copper and appears that one line is leaking at a 90 degree joint and may have to be replaced. Not sure yet if the joint can be removed without taking the complete length out of the car.

Maybe someone here is a plumber :idea: and can tell me how joints such as these are replaced.

Tim

On the Dax mine are in Ali and all in 1 piece from the front rad connector to the straight out in the engine compartment. It does mean to get them in / out need to take out radiator and angle front clip to slide through the "mouth" but in my mind better than joints

Now another thing with different metals you will get metal degredation and build up unless you run the correct inhibitor fluids so I'd keep the types of metal to as few as possible (I run a Ali block/heads Rover engine and Ali Rad)

Cheers
Ian

Tim:
I did what Ian did and ran Alum. tubing. Although I have seen a Safir, and an original car with stainless tubes.
Every material has its pros and cons, and I would think looking back I would probably run the stainless tubes.
Copper is a wonderful metal, but not happy in a mechanically stressed situation, but it is easily joined with various soldering options, and probably more combinations of fittings than anything else out there.
If you plan to replace the copper lines I would check out what material you have if it is marked at all. Alloy 122 is commonly used for high temp high pressure applications, and can be tig welded or silver soldered, costs a little more but not a factor when you consider the hassle and problems with leakage and replacing lines.
I mounted my lines at the front, and supported them through the tunnel but avoided clamping them as I was concerned with the expansion that would inevitably occur.
If you have any friends that do commercial AC work they could steer you to the right material as they are probably building systems that see extremes of temperature and pressures (over 300 psi) all the time.
You can also either bead the ends for hose connections, or use a barbed fitting, as this material is bendable.
Good luck
Phil

My RCR40 has 1.5" Stainless Steel..

Sorry to hear about your leaker....

Choices are basically copper, ali or Stainless


I have just designed mine with local exhaust company in England & am having stainless steel purge welded, The result being a jointless system effectively from front to back. Just need to make a few supports brackets that are split in middle since ends of pipes will be lipped to take hoses. System will then be able to be removed if needed. Mine will be costing approx £150 - £200 & although the most expensive will i feel be the longest lasting

IMHO........steel underpants at the ready

Regards
Karl B

Building Replica of 1036

Safir cars have SS tubes. 316L is better than 304. Copper will work-harden with vibration. Aluminum may be alright for a while but is more susceptible to corrosion.

We also wrapped the tubes with fiberglass exhaust pipe wrapping, wired it into place, and then used large-diameter heatshrink tubing on the outside of the exhaust wrapping. This is all in an effort to keep the heat from the coolant inside the tubes and not heat up the tunnel. Heating the tunnel would in turn heat the passenger space. We'll see how all this works out...

You do need a bead rolled into the ends of the tubes to help retain the hose on it. I would also use blue silicone water hose (Pegasus or other suppliers, like Trident Marine), and good quality constant-torque hose clamps to keep it all in place and sealed. This stuff is hard to get to once everything is in, and a leak would be a huge pain in the neck.

We haven't done the support brackets yet; once we have the hoses in place I'll make some sketches and the metal shop will make up the brackets to hold it all in place.

Tim, quick and dirty fixes would include: a) cutting the copper pipe, putting a bead roller on the raw end and then using appropriately sized rubber coolant hose from there, or b) cutting the pipe and soldering on a copper section appropriately bent to fit the remaining pathway of the pipe. Copper is easy to solder, just make sure the copper is really clean and put the heat where you want the solder to run (it will go there). Put some wet towels in and around the area you're soldering to ensure you don't get anything else hot.

Obviously, a better fix is to run new pipes and as others have indicated ss works pretty well, especially if you can utilize it without a bunch of welded joints.

Good info, I would like to go with SS tubes next time the motor is out and room to work. For now I will try the "quick and dirty" route as Cliff outlines. Thanks.