Triumph Spitfire 1500 radiator hoses

[Black Cat]

Hi,

There must be many of us who have fitted a new wide aluminium radiator to our Triumphs, mine was acquired from Germany on eBay. Today I fired up my Spitfire for the first time in over two years after carrying out a nut and bolt rebuild. Everything was going fine, the engine was slowly coming up to temperature and I was just about to adjust the carburetors when all of a sudden the bottom hose blew off the water pump, steam and water went everywhere, luckily no one was injured.

When fitting the new radiator I managed to utilise the old radiator top and bottom hoses as they were both in very good condition, the top hose seems to have made a good connection albeit the radiator pipe and the thermostat housing didn’t line up very well and the bottom hose had a tendency to touch one of the engine mounts but with a little bit of pushing and pulling I managed to stretch the bottom hose so it cleared the engine mount by about 12mm which at the time I was quite pleased with, the only problem was it was not on the water pump as far as it should have been and as a result when the water was coming up to pressure the bottom hose blew off.

Now my question is, is there any more suitable top and bottom hoses available which others have used, maybe from another system off another car or are there any manufactured specify for this type of radiator for the 1500 Spitfire

I’m hoping the answer is not to have the radiator connections re-positioned.

The other option is to refit the factory fitted one which I still have.

Many thanks

[Clive]

Maybe cut teh hose, and use a connector. That will give the extra length.

Beware new rubber top hoses, I have heard of 3 (in teh last 7 days) that have split within the first few hours of use. Obviously a very bad batch is in the trade....

 

There is always teh silicone option, but I doubt you will find one that will do exactly what you want, but will be a pair plus a joiner.

[Pete Lewis]

anything on here of use     https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/hoses-and-clips#/pageSize=20&viewMode=grid&orderBy=15

 

Pete

[Black Cat]

The hose former for the bottom hose may be an option to keep it away from the engine mount.

Might try a local welding company to see what they will charge me to alter the two pipes first, if it’s not too expensive my just bite the bullet and do that.