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MG MGA - MGA Associated Pipe Broken

I have had a disaster with my 18 year old air compressor that I use for a number of my MGA tasks: spraying, blasting and vehicle lift. The alloy pipe connecting the compressor motor to the pressure valve assembly on the storage tank has suffered fatigue at its flared end (see photo).

I am making enquiries with the UK supplier (Machine Mart) but I am not counting on them still holding a replacement part after all these years.

So, my question is how to go about making a new flared end on this pipe? I don't have a pipe flaring kit. Can anyone give me some guidance about what I need to do? The pipe is aluminium so I guess I need to be careful about the application of heat etc. I have a lathe so can make a suitable dolly if necessary. Any help welcomed.

Steve


Steve Gyles

Steve. The pipe is commonly made out of copper and they do work harden and crack/break. There should be a compressor repair/rebuilding company somewhere in your area. They can take your old pipe and make up a new one for your. I have had to do this several times, finally purchasing a flare kit (not expensive) to do the work myself. You might do an internet search for "compressor repair" and see whom is doing that sort of work in your area.

Les
Les Bengtson

Steve - Good luck with the pipe, sorry I can't help here. Its just that you say your compressor is 18 years old now. As you will know these things are dangerous pieces of kit, I hope you get the compressor's tank regularly checked or that could explode too... Apologies if all is well but I couldn't not mention it. Using a compressor repairer suggested above would get this sorted of course.
Pete
P N Tipping

Steve,

Assuming all else is ok with the compressor, it shouldn't be difficult to make up a new pipe. It looks like you have a standard flare as opposed to the bubble flare used on our brake lines. Here in the States some auto parts stores will lend tools including brake flare kits. If your have to buy one they go for as little as $30 USD. Most of the flare kits are designed for standard and double flares. A few kits will also do bubble flares for the 4.75mm brake lines on our MGA's. See the OTC Flaring Tool at Summit Racing for 4.75mm, 6mm, 8mm and 10mm pipe for an example.

With the proper tube and tools in hand the trick is getting a decent flare formed with a somewhat primitive tool.

The cheap flare tools clamp the pipe and use a screw driven mandrel to form the flare. My experience with forming bubble flares was that the turning mandrel would grab the end of the pipe as the flare formed resulting in a twisted and malformed flare. The result was a weakened flare and leaks. This might not be a problem for a single flare.

The trick was to disconnect the mandrel from the forming screw and using a combination of nuts and a ball bearing I was able to hold the mandrel in one place while tightening the forming screw.

Might be worth a try. Safety Fast.
John





John Backman

Thanks all for your thoughts so far. The compressor is in overall good condition and I regularly check and service it, but is barely up to some of the tasks I am asking of it, particularly the blasting cabinet and car hoist. This issue is probably a good opportunity to buy a more powerful one with a bigger tank. I will get rid of this one when sorted or sell as spares.

First step will be to see what the supplier says.

Steve
Steve Gyles

I have replaced all the brake and Fuel lines on my 56 A as part of the frame off restore. I used Nickle/copper lines. I have a bubble flare kit which made the flaring really easy, BUT what I found out when doing the flares was some the the flares were twisting when the flare was being formed. The way I got around this was to put some Silicone brake lube on the flare adapter, this allowed the adapter to rotate freely as the flare was being formed.
Ron Bissland

Just to complete this thread, I managed to get a complete new pipe assembly from the manufacturer. The old pipe must have been leaking for a while before it finally fractured totally because I have never seen the compressor pump up pressure so quickly.

Thanks for all the advice.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve - "I managed to get a complete new pipe assembly from the manufacturer. The old pipe must have been leaking for a while before it finally fractured totally because I have never seen the compressor pump up pressure so quickly."

Bummer! There goes your excuse to get a bigger & better compressor :-(
Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

This thread was discussed between 26/01/2014 and 16/02/2014

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