Tony Gordon wrote:
> Folks,
>
> Changed the oil now the car is on the road once again in a still cold, but
> snow and salt free mid-Michigan. Today changed the plugs and took the car
> round the block. Got back to the house and saw a really large puddle of
> Castrol GTX that then trailed off into the distance. Lept out and looked
> under the bonnet to see oil flowing pretty freely from the oil pressure
> gauge line.
>
> I removed the line, and have temporarily plugged the block outlet with a
> BSP plug (Ace Hardware believe it or not ....), so the car is mobile, but
> is there a way to refit the connector to the hose? I tried heating with a
> propane torch and ended up with a lot of black lastic melted ... boiling
> water didn't do a thing apart from get my hands too hot for comfort.
>
> Any thoughts? Or should I just reach for the catalogs?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tony Gordon
> 72 TR6, Midland, MI
Tony,
Those lines can be a real bear sometimes. The best way I've found to put them
back on
is to screw two small blocks of wood together and drill a hole right down the
seam
that is the same diameter as the tube (it's close to 3/16, but not quite exact).
After you have the hole, pound a long tapered nail set or punch into the hole
and
flare out the end on one side. Now with the tube loose (not clamped in the
wood) heat
the end of the tube up until it starts to soften a bit (I use a paint stripper
gun)
and carefully insert the nail set into the tube until it just starts to flare.
Stop
when the end of the tube will now fit up over the first barb on the fitting.
Get it
started on the fitting, but don't force it or it will kink. Next insert it in
the
wood block and screw the halves together. Be sure the tube slides in the wood.
The
idea is to use the wood to keep the tube from kinking while you are struggling
to
press it on. Now with a few inches of tube exposed, again heat the tube and
fitting.
Quickly slide the wood up to the end of the fitting (it should match fairly
closely
due to the flare you pounded into the wood) and push on the not so hot part of
the
tube behind the wood block. Have repaired many a tube that someone forgot to
undo
while pulling their engine and simply cut at the last minute only to discover
that
they are very hard to refit later!
Good luck and don't forget to put the ferrule on before you press the tube on
the
nipple!
Regards,
Brian Schlorff '61 TR-4 '64 TR-4 '72 TR-6 '79 Spit
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