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Triumph TR6 - Hose Clamps

I'm in the midst of making my engine bay prettier. I need some ooh and aah. I've done a bunch of stuff and will soon replace all rad and heater hoses with a pkg of green ones from TRF that includes clamps but...

Is there a neat looking hose clamp out there that looks better than the traditional stainless steel ones we use on cars, pumps, cottage plumbing, etc? I see variations on the traditional clamps with hex head / slot screw driver bolts like worm gear tighteners, butterfly tighteners, etc. but nothing that seems new or slick as yet.

Any ideas?

Ken

PS. Did you know that arranging the spark plug wires is an art? Me neither but I admit having dinked around long enough with mine to think they look pretty good. I'll try to listen in on comments I get at "Brits In The Park" in Lindsay in July. ;)

Ken Shaddock

Ken Check out this web site.
Paul is the King of Bling
http://www.74tr6.com/
DON KELLY

He's using the traditional clamps Don which is cool. If they are fresh and the correct size they still look good. I'll take a step back and try to see the forest. I've been known to get lost in the details.

Ken Shaddock

Hey Don... I took all the emissions hoses off to eliminate some performance issues and the dead heads that plug the tubes where those hoses ran are clamped off with short bits of hose, nail heads, etc. and look like heck. I could do better and hence the Q.


Ken Shaddock

Ken, different manifold time
DON KELLY

Don
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is one WEB site that just got added to my favorites. A VERY nice TR6. Looks like he has more time on his hands than all of us combined.

Ken I agree with Don on time for improvements to the intake manifold.

Might I suggest what I did. This may be a winter project as it will cut into driving time. Remove the intake and exhaust manifolds . You will need to put on a new intake/exhaust manifold gasket.

Get yourself some high heat automotive chrome paint and same black paint.
Paint both and reinstall. I did mine back in 2001 and both still looks fine other than the exhaust paint tends to turn brown over time. Also do the same chrome paint to the thermostat cap, dip stick, and the cap on the fuel pump.
The top covers to the carbs can be removed and brightened up with Autosol metal cleaner. Autosol is the ONLY metal polish that works on cleaning old/dirty metal. I can not say enough about Autosol. (Did I say Autosol enough???)

Rick
Rick Crawford

Hey now you're talkin' guys. I can do that this winter although I'll have to get up to speed on "chrome" paint. Am not aware of it.

Also, I'd like to nuke that EGR thingme sitting there unused. Either I paint it up like a cartoon character or take it off and have a plug machined to replace it. Seems I've read something on that in this forum.

Maybe I should be thinking of headers!?

Oh and Autosol, Autosol and Autosol. Source... garage supply place like Napa, etc.
Ken Shaddock

If you really want to get fancy. Have the intake and exhaust ceramic coated.
If your engine is stock, stick with the stock exhaust. Kas Kastner says it is actually about as good as headers.
DON KELLY

Engine is stock DK so I am fine with stock exhaust manifold. With fresh paint it'll marry up nicely with the stainless 'Double S' exaust system.

A question I had for Rick though was in reference to his mention of black paint. Is the exhaust manifold supposed to be black or was the black for the engine block once I've removed the intake and exhaust manifolds?

Also, can the carbs come off together as a pair to avoid disassembly of that linkage between the two?

Funny how the shabby areas jump out at me now that I have replaced several parts with new... like a new suit makes your old shoes look like heck.
Ken Shaddock

I hate to be the turd in the punch bowl but IMHO chrome spray paint only looks good on the cap, the actual paint looks nothing like chrome except maybe when it's first sprayed and wet and heat is a killer for shine, you can prolong it's shine with a clear coat but heat pretty much yellows most clear coat. Silver/chrome is also a heat absorber/amplifier so anything dealing with heat/coolant I'd pretty much avoid silver. Some of the krinkle black sprays look great but you need to follow the 3 heavy coats within 5 minuets and then put the part in front of a ceramic space heater for greatest results. Looks great, repels heat and is extremely durable.
JT White

Guys....
I had a local powder coater treat my exhaust manifold this last winter. It wasn't standard powdercoating, but a friend had this done to headers on a Jeep a few years ago, and they still look great. I was sold! So here's the before, and I'll post another shot after.
Rod


Rod Nichols

.....and after....


Rod Nichols

My intake ceramic coated that I don't use ,nor the carbs


DON KELLY

Ceramic coated headers


DON KELLY

Rod, Don... do you have pix of the intake when bolted onto the engine? Am wondering if bling can get too blingy. It looks great on it's own and it looks to be easier to keep clean. Yes?

Is ceramic coating an expensive option? $100, $200, $300, $400, more?
Ken Shaddock

for me about the same as PC'ing. Only difference is the 40 mile drive for the ceramic people verses the 5 to the PC'ers.
I like the ceramic for pieces that get hot. It actually keeps the heat in instead of radiating it to the engine compartment
On my 6 I have ceramiced
Valve cover,intakes,exhaust headers and mid pipes,in fact all the loose parts on the motor.
Same thing on my Wedge.

Anything non engine that can come off of both cars have been PC'd

Of course personally and might I say other people to say I'm a little over board.
It's only money!

I agree about the bling being to blingy. The ones above I don't use,to bright for me. My present 6 intake and exhaust is done in black and my Wedge is done in Titanium color
Here's my Wedge headers


DON KELLY

Can't say squint about the Wedge Headers ;)... that's a nice clean look. I'll look into the pc option versus ceramic. There's a few local shops here that trick cars up and do the 'show and shine' circuit so they'll be able to show me examples of both and help me get it done if I like the look. Thanks Don. Thanks to all who have offered their thoughts. I kinda think we could do a whole thread on engine and engine bay bling alone.

Ken
Ken Shaddock

Ken
I think the Exhaust (and intake) as stock, where bare metal and not treated at all. I only put the black spray paint (high heat) on the exhaust manifold just to make it look nicer (as compared to rusty). Like I said though, the black paint tends to turn a brownish colour. Really not all that noticeable.

As far as PC'ing and high heat chrome paint, well one is definitely more expensive than the other. The paint is around $10.00. The PC'ing cost I can not answer. I must admit it does look very nice from the pics here. I question wether it will take high heat or not???? The intake does not get all that hot though so probably OK. If money no object then I would go the route of PC'ing the intake at least. This is not over bling. Can one get a Chrome ceramic colour???

"Also, can the carbs come off together as a pair to avoid disassembly of that linkage between the two?"
Ken, do not worry about the linkage between them. This is not a problem. Easily put back together. You need them off anyway to refinish the intake manifold. You should make the front and back carb and put back in the same positon.

Rick
Rick Crawford

oops
That should say "You should MARK..." but then I think you got my drift :)

Rick
Rick Crawford

Yep, I understood Rick. You are one of the main reasons this BBS works so well so no one cares about typos.

Ken
Ken Shaddock

Here that Rick,
No one cares about typos.




Old joke, Ken
DON KELLY

Just to clarify, my exhaust manifold was ceramic coated, ran about $80.

Rod
Rod Nichols

$80... well okay then. Shoulda had it with me last September when in Utah & Montana. Coulda done a side trip your way. Thanks Rod... ceramic, not pc and less than $100.
Ken Shaddock

Hey Rick... bought a tube of that Autosol Metal Polish. Now I need to get some small and medium buffing wheels for my drills. I'll show and tell when completed.
Ken Shaddock

Ken
No real need for the buffer considering you will be spraying polish all over your clean shirt that your wife told you to take off before you went out to the garage.
I apply with finger and rub in. Your finger(s) will start to turn black then polish with a cloth. More black will be on the cloth then go to clean area and buff it up.

PS sorry but forgot to mention. The Autosol in the gold and black tube is much better than the one in the pinkish tube.

Rick
Rick Crawford

You got a problem with pink?
DON KELLY

Ken, getting back to your original question....MOSS has some different hose clamps in their latest TR6 catalog that are a little cleaner and use a heat gun to attach. They are called Gates Power Grip, page A43 in the latest paper catalog.

http://www.jegs.com/p/Gates/Gates-Power-Grip-Clamps/943359/10002/-1
JT White

Can they be reused?
DON KELLY

Don, I don't think they can...I'm kind of an old school guy myself. I like the look of the original clamps...I'm not a big "braided" and "billet" engine compartment person.
JT White

Rick: That's the tube I bought and I have begun to develop the black stain on my finger. The polish works great... wonder why we have to go to Germany to get a good metal polish. It smells familiar though... like Silvo or Brasso or some other stuff my mother made me use to clean stuff when I was a kid.

BTW, my wife caught me in "good clothes" cleaning and polishing the engine bay goodies. Apparently you knew that was going to happen.

JT... thanks for the suggestion but I'm liking the old look too with the clamps from TRF. I don't like their use of slot screws and would rather have hexhead but America still likes slotted screws and screwdrivers.

I also found some high temp tolerant spray adhesive I'm going to use with the hoodliner I bought from Jeff at LBC Co. I'll report on that later. It was hard to find.
Ken Shaddock

I used RAM TACK spray adhesive on my hood underlayment on my 86 XJS. It's a spray adhesive used in construction, believe me when I say there is NO engine comparment hotter then that of a 5.3 Litre V-12. It has held up perfect for well over a year and still going strong. Easy to find...super strong and about $8 a can.
JT White

This thread was discussed between 14/06/2010 and 27/06/2010

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