Hi guys,
Some will know that I have been working on a little hydrolastic 850 for a few months. Last night at around 5.30, I finished pumping up the hydro and marveled at how well the little car looked. By 9, I was fitting the carby and noticed what seemed to be steam coming from around the back of the radiator. The car hasn't been going for ages so further investigation was needed. It seemed as if it could be coming from under the bulkhead hydro pipe bracket so I had a fiddle and the steam turned into a jet of hydro fluid in a nannosecond, turning the back of the engine and engine compartment green.

It seems the steel pipe that looks like new from the outside is not so wonderful on the inside. To replace the whole pipe requires removal of both recently fitted subframes so I was thinking of replacing the pipe as far as the rear of the front subframe and silver-soldering a sleeve over the joint. Has anybody had a similar experience and how have you made the repair?

Al

Funny you should mention, the S I just finished pulling apart had a repair at this point hehind the front subframe, but I think it was from accident damage.

I wouldn't reccomend it however, as all things being equal, the rest of the pipe will be in a similar corroded condition..

Tricky position I know...

Perhaps if the replacement tube was pre-bent (or a good used item), you may only need to drop the
subframe(s) enough to flex it through into position?

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I've never had one rust out, but when I was sixteen I drilled a hole through one of the rear pipes while fitting speakers under the rear seat. Mini Car Clinic repaired it with a short length of tube but I can't remember the exact details. AFAIK it's still intack 16 years later. MichaelB of this forum should be able to comment further, as his daughter now owns that car.

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

Hi Mick,
It doesn't seem that I have much to lose by giving a repair a try. Both ends of the car are pretty much back together, so now or later doesn't make much difference. I figure that new fluid will stop any more corrosion and if I can get it to hold, it should be OK for years.

Al

Yeah sure enough if that's the easiest way out. You could purchase a piece of tube with an inside diameter the same as the outside diamter of the hydro pipe (try a hobby shop on the balsa wood stand, they always have a large assortment) with a cut down the length to allow it to be slipped over, or bash a thin piece of metal to suit and silver solder in place.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Hi Mick,
Thanks for the model shop tip, never thought of that.

Al

They're quite useful for this kind of stuff, and they're sold in the lengths you need for a small job, 1 and 2 foot lengths.

They make them in such a way that the next size up will slip over the previous one, and then again for the next and so forth.
Usually you will find in in aluminium and brass. Brass is the go.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

It does that if someones clicked the notify me when a reply is made box on the thread , the message is still lodged but the forum gives the message the same time it sends the notification email for some obscure reason .

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Yep, betya that's what I did!

Al

I would cut it back to where metal is good (maybe back under the car even) then use some hydraulic compression fittings and Pirtek flexible hydraulic hose.
Remember there's around 300psi in there...
But if the subframes were off I'd just get Pirtek or EnZed to bend up some new steel pipes.

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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.

Remember that there is 300psi in there when the car is parked. It goes much higher on full bump.

Hi guys,
I attacked it in fury last night and all I need to do is weld one end of the sleeve joining the replacement piece of pipe. I have joined it under the first clip, adjacent to the back leg of the subframe. The joiner will hopefully look like a plastic sleeve and won't be at all noticable. I cut the failed pipe at the fault and it was very small, a spot of weld would have cured it but I wasn't to know. I'll report back to record my (hopeful) success !!

Regards
Al

Well, the car pumped up just fine and no leaks have appeared. It seems the repair is successful. Thank goodness for that!

Al

In the Uk Somerford mini sell repair pipes so you can join onto the existing.. not much help I know but they do ship over-sea's... just thought I would add it.

Thanks for the suggestion, I hope I never need to use it in the future!

Al