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MG MGA - Heater and Carb Intake pipes

Hi All
Just fitted the front heater and carb intake pipes behind the grille bought from Moss. They seem rather long. Can anyone tell me how long they should be as I cannot find any pictures showing the originals.
Thanks Brian

Brian Paddon

I just copied the old battered one Brian, I made the new long heater pipe a little too long and used a really sharp pair of scissors to cut it to length.
I did just fine on the long heater pipe, but I ruined BOTH of the shorter ones that fit in the radiator duct.
I tried to bend them into shape but I buckled them so badly that they are now both in the bin!

I have re-fitted the old ones using some duck tape to hold them in place again!

There must be a way of fitting them without ruining them but I am reluctant to buy another set until someone tell me the secret of how to fit them.
(HELP!)
☺
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Brian

If anything I would say they are shorter than the set I bought from Bob West in 1998. Mine stop at 2.5 inches from those grille retainer holes in front of your pipes.

Sorry, don't know original length.

Steve

PS. Colyn, I don't recall any particular issue fitting them.
Steve Gyles

My originals which I have kept in a box are 39/40cm long . I measured along the curve as best I could. Colyn the front ones take a bit of patience teasing out the aluminium folds on the outside of the bend without stretching the inside of the bends to get the curves. They do finish quite close to the grill. Brian yours seem to have a rounded lip on the ends which I am not familiar with.
John Francis

John

I made similar 'lips' on the front of mine using black plastic or rubber piping. I slit it down its length and ran it round the edge of the ducting. Makes a nice finisher. I suspect Brian has done something much the same.

Steve
Steve Gyles

I found that by stretching them somewhat beforehand, they were much easier to bend. They expanded more than I expected though and I had to cut quite a bit off the length.

The biggest problem I found is that at the radiator end they can get jammed by the radiator. That makes both their removal and radiator removal difficult, so I would recommend either leaving a bit of space at the rad panel or fitting them after the radiator.

Neil MG

Thanks Guys for your help. John - Yes I have slit and fitted washer hose to the leading edges as Steve comments. Now to fit the grille as Steve recommends using the upturned bolts in the top and sleeves to allow easier removal later.I also had to cut the long pipe to fit neatly onto both ends.
Thanks Brian
Brian Paddon

Just to add to an "old thread", tried fitting my Moss supplied hoses today, and virtually impossible to fit..guess what, you cannot fit something onto something the same size! Obviously the Moss (UK) ones are too small. I'll have to figure something else out.
Gary Lock

Hi Gary
I found it very difficult to bend the moss europe tube over the body flanges but it helped putting my hand inside from the rear and shape the pipe while pushing with my other hand. Noticed that the pipes get damaged when I had to remove my radiator for other repairs. Good luck with fitting yours
Brian
Brian Paddon

I find everything works just fine without the two front pipes (in front of the rad)
Art Pearse

Gary

Try Ashley Hinton as he makes the tubing - don't know if he sells to Moss but the piece I got from him last year was perfect
Dominic Clancy

The middle of this page on Barney’s site shows what I did to bend these hoses without distorting the ends. http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/heater/hr109.htm

Jim
JL Cheatham

Dominic..just tried Ashley Hinton, and he doesn't make them..only the P clips. Anyone else with a reliable source?
Gary Lock

Hi Chaps,
I solved this problem by using 4" flexible tubing from Demon Tweeks which has a metal spiral inside and a white coloured string on the out side, if you remove the white string the tubing looks similar to the original. This tubing can be bent almost 90 degrees without kinking. I used this for the difficult bits and the joined some of the original hose to this to the front of the radiator where the hose can be seen
Regards

David
D M SPEAK

Will try to upload a photo
Regards
David
D M SPEAK

Gary, I reckon the problem might be due to metrification! Original ducting 4” ID (101.6 mm), ducting available today being 100 mm ID. Maybe US manufactured material may fit?
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

This thread was discussed between 23/06/2016 and 25/05/2018

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