When I stripped my front hydro subframe, there were these 'L' shaped brackets holding the hydro bag in position. They are about 10cms (ish) in length and had a short piece of pinchweld on the end (that door seal backing stuff).

What is their purpose and do they really have to be refitted? Or are they just a waste of space?

Also......here is a weird question..... If I was to put some hydro bags in an oven, would the heat do nasty things to the internals of the hydro bag? Lets say for 10 minutes @ 200° C.

These are designed to do two things I am aware of;
1) they stabilise the bag, and help it keep it's position without relying solely on the (now 35+ YO) tabs at the top of the subframe.

2) The act as a 'safety catch' of sorts, stops the bag from dropping out. (not very effective IMHO).

Your choice to fit or not, but the factory fitted them, never heard of anyone not wanting to refit them before (here come the stories; "i never fitted these and i drove around the whole planet 10 times.... ).

The point is, why take the chance?

Matt

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68 Deluxe.... it's shiny..... I like shiny!!

What recipe are you following GT?

I would be a bit worried about the hoses, rather than the internals. I think you are taking a risk with the rubber components

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1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

Why do you want to bake the hydrolastic units? They wont ever get to that temp in operation Id guess they will melt/burst/rupture/die.

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YDO005 1965 stock standard MORRIS MINI DELUXE

Good point. I have heard of cases where the unit has worked loose and ended up buggering the lugs in the subframe tower, due to normal suspension movement. Result ? -complete subframe replacement

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1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

If you are thinking of powdercoating them, I wouldn't. The heat will not only kill the hoses but dry out the rubber even further than it is already.
Some POR15 or Killrust black would look fine.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Not baking paint or powdercoating

I am putting heatshrink over the hoses. I did the oil cooler hoses in the oven and they came out AWESOME! A hair dryer doesn't have enough grunt to shrink it. The oven did.

If the oven is NO-GO for hydro bags, I will use the blow torch. The heatshrink supplier said that should be OK.

Point taken about the brackety things. I will refit them.

Thanks guys.

The Heat guns used for stripping paint are brilliant for the bigger heat shrink. Used with caution of course. Most heat shrink needs about 125 degrees.

Try a heat gun, pretty cheap these days and handy for other jobs. Or a gas cooktop.

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Michael N

When I do the van, I'm fitting new hoses to 4 bags. There's a thread here somewhere....

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.