Radiator hose kit

[peters3103]

Hi, I’m looking at SNGB’s 3.8 cooling system hose kit. Has anyone bought/used this kit and if so how’s the quality and fit? Does it look correct?Any other supplier suggestions? Actually only need the 4 top and bottom rad hoses but SNGB only have 3 of them in “standard” (which I presume means genuine?) and the other one is “aftermarket”. The full kit is only £9 more anyway.

Pete

[cactusman]

I fitted a set...think they came from SNGB. Standard reinforced. 12 months on they seem fine. Cost about £60 if I remember right. Fitted perfectly. The set I got had both types of top hose from the thermostat to the header...straight with concertina section and kinked for the later type header....nice touch. p.s. I got a set of stainless steel jubilee type clips too...

[Heuer]

Depends on how "correct" you want to be. The original 3.8 top hose was convoluted on cars up to 850657/879044/861091/888241- it was straight after that because a 7psi cap was used. The original was cotton covered and given its prominence in the engine bay certainly worth searching out as it is another early 3.8 icon:

You can buy one from here if they still have stock: http://www.billtracyjaguar.com/xktopho38ety.html

More information here: http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php?p=100267#p100267

[Gerry]

Hi Pete,try your local car parts place,some one on Jaglovers kindly put up a list of gates hose equivalents.I ended up with Dayco equivalent to the Gates!
Bottom hose #70389
Top hose #71011
You may have to trim a bit off the length,the last ones I installed lasted about 20yrs.

Hope this helps Gerry 62 0ts Ontario Canada.

[peters3103]

Thanks for advice gents, David, is the other top hose from the radiator to header tank also supposed to be cotton covered? It appears the early convoluted cotton covered hose is still available from Bill Tracy at $65 and suits XK150 too.

Pete

[JJC]

Xk's Unlimited , in California a great source also. Little tip....when your installing new hoses, place a little Vaseline around the inside of the hose, right around both ends. Adds a bit of life to the hose, and of course, slides on just a bit easier.

JC

[peters3103]

Good advice with the Vaseline or a smear of rubber grease? I’ve tried ordering the cloth covered hose from Bill Tracy but it won’t “add to cart” so presumably it’s not available. I’ll try to contact them for confirmation.

[cactusman]

I used red rubber grease. Bought a tin for about £12. I now have several lifetimes supply it is red and stains everything you wear so be warned!

[Heuer]

when your installing new hoses, place a little Vaseline around the inside of the hose, right around both ends. Adds a bit of life to the hose, and of course, slides on just a bit easier.

Noooooo! Vaseline may help get the hose on but it will make it almost impossible to remove. Vaseline, being a petroleum product, will be absorbed into the rubber and remaining residue will act as an adhesive. Red rubber grease is the only thing you should use.

[JJC]

good tip !

[Mich7920]

Aand what about water and soap ?

[spanish 2+2]

plus one for warm water and soap.

[Heuer]

Again, good for putting hoses on but the water will evaporate and the soap will disappear. Red rubber grease is impervious to water and glycol so will still be there as a lube when you come to remove the hose.

[peters3103]

Bill Tracy Jaguar say they have the stockinette covered top hose available but haven’t responded as to how I can purchase it. There’s a company called Nufox Rubber in Manchester who can supply the same hose but they have a £150 min order so at £7.09 per hose I’d heed to buy a few. Another option is to have perhaps two or three full car sets of hoses made up which would presumably come to about the £150 mark.

[abowie]

I've just opened my HK006 bought from Manners in July last year.

Currently these kits seem to be O/O/S; I think it's because they can't supply C12630 the L shaped bottom waterpump hose. The C12630 hose I got with my kit is too long by around 5cm on the long section of the L and is a quite loose fit on the C16999 connecting pipe. From memory the correct hose has different diameters on either end although I could be wrong. I think this is just a generic "near enough" hose they have sourced.

Supplied in the kit was C7848 which is the bypass hose on the left side of the engine. This is completely wrong being far too small in diameter to fit. As it's a pretty simple right angled hose I'll pop down to Repco; I'm sure that they can supply a hose to fit.

On a positive note the kit contains both the early ribbed and later smooth top hoses, depending on whether you have a 4lb or 9lb cap fitted.

Edit: the C7848 hoses also seem to be O/O/S on some sites, although XKs seem to have stock of both this and C12630 and also list Cooling Hose Kit - 09-4999 as in stock.

[CoolCat]

Rather than using vaseline or soap to install new hoses, the safest bet is to use undiluted antifreeze. It's as slippery as any of these other choices, and guaranteed to be 100% compatible.

[AshM]

Half way through fitting my Silicone Hose kit from Fosseway - expensive but delighted at the highest quality of the product. Should last for a long long time.

Some of the hoses slightly longer than required which i like as you can trim to get perfect radius.

Red Rubber Grease is my recommendation every time.