silicon hoses

[wolfie]

Has anybody got any idea if there is a silicone hose kit for the metro as all of my coolant hoses are getting pretty grotty and don't look like they have much life left in them? If I have to I'll use stainless tubing and universal silicone hoses to make a kit up but I'm bone idle so would like to just buy a ready made kit

[Victorc]

Even if there is kit for the metro, you will have to modify it to fit the Midas.
Have a look at the build manual that Hans has put on this site, if I remember correctly there is a lot of extra hoses and connections to reach the radiator.
Regards
Victor.
PS If you do find a kit let me know, mine is OK but they will need changed sometime.

[rocketron]

Had a job recently to fit silicon hoses to v8 petrol engine in a cruiser (a boat!). First impression was they felt "floppy" and am not certain whether they'll do the job. Come spring we'll find out upon re-launch.

Another job was to change the stern gland hose on a yacht. The original was old and "swollen", was made from 50mmx10mm thick wall rubber hose. It's made that thick to withstand any torsional strain which can occur in certain circumstances. The customer supplied a blue silicon hose "guaranteed" to outlast any previous rubber type, but would not withstand any torsional resistance whatsoever.

I know this "torsional" resistance property would not have any relation to Midas applications, but this got me thinking. A search on google to USA sites got to several manufacturers who listed different grades of silicon hoses. The difference being the number of reinforcing fibre layers within the hose, up to 5 layers possible, stiffest/strongest perhaps(?) for the most arduous situations. There may be suppliers of different grades in the UK.

Several occasions last year in motorsport, I saw silicon hose failures on cooling systems, intake trunking collapse and elbows between turbo and manifold on Ford Cosworth engines( 0riginal Ford equipment lasted years but were not cheap nor easy to get). In nearly all these failures the silicon hoses were newly fitted. I know that in several of the above, hoses with extra layers were later sourced from USA and proved successful.

So it might be prudent to be sure of what you get is fit for the job: just because its blue and silicon, it doesn't mean it's good

[Geoff Butcher]

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: just because its blue and silicon, it doesn't mean it's good

Quite so. I bought a cheapo silicone hose which simply would not seal, because the thickness was so uneven.