PFF - Pennock's Fiero Forum, PDA Edition

Kinked coolant pipe -- what is correct geometry? (Page 1/3)

oneinch

FEB 12, 10:48 PM

Both of my coolant pipes are kinked at the rear wheel well. Common occurrence I guess. I've never seen what a perfect pipe is supposed to look like. I plan on having the kink cut out of the pipe and a new section of tubing welded in place. My question is (using my picture for reference): I should have the coolant pipe corrected so that both of the red lines become one line, yes? The coolant pipe should be straight, except at the very end where it is supposed to bend upwards slightly.

In case anyone is wondering, I replaced my internal hex drain plugs with external hex drain plugs. My original plugs came out easily, but I much prefer using a 7/16" wrench to loosen and tighten them.

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Stanton
'88 Formula, red on gray

Raydar

FEB 13, 08:42 AM

The pipe is supposed to be straight, right to the point where it "kicks up" at the back.
With that said, if you're just going for functional, as opposed to "concours/show worthy", anything close should be fine, as long as you can tap the sides in where it was kinked, in order to mostly restore the cross-section.
I had a set that looked nearly that bad, and was able to mostly straighten it, and used a vice and a hammer to "massage" it almost round.

Barring that, Rodney Dickman sells repro pipes, that contain the "under the door" section, all the way to the rear. Since the front sections are almost never damaged, the new rear sections are spliced into the existing fronts. I was only recently made aware of these.

http://rodneydickman.com/pr....php?products_id=495

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 02-13-2021).]

oneinch

FEB 13, 08:59 AM

Thank you Raydar. Straight or straighter they will be. No, not going for the concours thing. I just don't want overheating problems.

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Stanton
'88 Formula, red on gray

[This message has been edited by oneinch (edited 02-13-2021).]

Raydar

FEB 13, 09:13 AM

quote

Originally posted by oneinch:
...
I just don't want overheating problems.

Strangely enough, I bought an 88 coupe a few years ago. The passenger side coolant tube looked a lot like yours.
I was able to drive the car around, even in the summer, and it never seemed to overheat. But I had access to a spare tube, so I swapped it.
I then straightened and hammered out the original, and gave it to one of the guys in our club who also needed one.

Dennis LaGrua

FEB 13, 10:16 AM

Straightening that tube by bending/hammering may work but my level of comfort in doing that is not 100%. There is a phenomenon known as "work hardening" that tends to make the material more brittle and thinner when it is bent a few times, especially so on old material that has been heat cycled. Will this work on your pipes? Most likely yes, but being the stickler that I am for precision my tendency would be to replace the pipes.

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"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
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steve308

FEB 13, 01:01 PM

Has anyone considered going to a muffler shop with a tubing bender and just having them made? I would think that even if it was made in sections and then connected by welding or joining with silicone sleeves it would be feasible.

oneinch

FEB 13, 01:29 PM

A muffler shop is where I'm going. I'm only going to have a short section welded in. Cut out the kink, weld on a replacement. These tubes are a non standard size. I measured my OD to be 1.317"~. My plan is to use seamless SS tube with an ID of 1.402". The resulting 3/64" gap should be filled nicely by the weld.

Any welding place can do this. I'm looking for a TIG weld with SS filler.

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Stanton
'88 Formula, red on gray

Dennis LaGrua

FEB 13, 04:43 PM

quote

Originally posted by oneinch:

A muffler shop is where I'm going. I'm only going to have a short section welded in. Cut out the kink, weld on a replacement. These tubes are a non standard size. I measured my OD to be 1.317"~. My plan is to use seamless SS tube with an ID of 1.402". The resulting 3/64" gap should be filled nicely by the weld.

Any welding place can do this. I'm looking for a TIG weld with SS filler.

You can sometimes find welders on Craigs List in your area. I used a guy a while ago in your area but lost his number. A welder must be pretty skilled to weld on that thin stainless tubing.

theogre

FEB 14, 03:21 AM

Welding other tubes to this often fails. Weld "rod" and new tube isn't same metal and have problems because of that.

Cut at crimp.
Expand the tube.
"splice" w/ hose.
Many sure short end is tie to frame to support it and can't "blow off" because any tube w/o "hose lock bumps" easily blow off/out of hoses.
Use search.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

oneinch

FEB 14, 09:31 AM

I'll be sure to inquire about that theogre. I know next to nothing about welding. My plan is to use a muffler shop thinking they weld thin wall tubing regularly. They often work with stainless steel. I'd like them to back purge the weld as well. Hopefully in the end I have a quality job done. I think I will have. We're talking metal here. Nothing special. It can be welded. If it isn't, it's the welder's fault.

Worst comes to worst, I buy the repair tubes from Rodney. In any case, I want the kinks gone.

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Stanton
'88 Formula, red on gray