Twin-Cam Coolant Tube Removal

[jlmullen2]

Hi Everybody -

I'm finally making progress on my 73 Twin-Cam having just removed the engine and transaxle. I'll be sending out the engine for evaluation/rebuild soon as it hasn't run in quite a while and I don't have any history on a supposed rebuild before I got the car. During the engine removal I was disconnecting the upper coolant hose when the hose with a length of pipe came away in my hand. It was completely rusted shut and broke where it makes a bend to go into the chassis. My next move was to call Ray at RD and order a set of new coolant transfer pipes.

Today I decided to tackle the shifting mechanism as I now had room to take it out. It came out easy enough and so I decided to tackle the coolant piping. The first pipe was easy, the second not so much. The second pipe is the one going to the lower inlet on the front of the block. I pulled it out with about 8"-12" to go and it won't come any farther. There is a bit of a "dogleg" in the last few inches and this seems to be the problem. I can see in the chassis through the upper access hole the end of the pipe and it seems to be fouling on the emergency brake assembly. I've twisted the pipe almost 360 degrees but still can't get it to come out.

What trick am I missing in order to get the pipe out? The car is up on jackstands in the rear and I have enough room to crawl underneath to access the pipe as well as from the top. Would jacking the car up higher give me the needed space for the coolant pipe to be wiggled out?

Thanks as always for your advice and suggestions.

Larry Mullen

[4129R]

It does come out through the bottom when you get the correct angle. I cannot remember how I did it, I had the same problem putting it back in, but got it in eventually. .

The hand brake cable was in when I put the tube back in, so it must go.

The rear suspension was off so the trailing arms were not obstructing the path.

I think the tube was upside down to get the S bit out.   

[jlmullen2]

A quick update to close this thread. I decided to cut the pipe near where it comes out of the chassis in the rear as I have new pipes I'll be installing. As I got into the engine compartment with my saw I moved the pipe to get better clearance to cut it and it fell out of the chassis. Go figure!

At least now I know I can work the new pipe into the chassis, although I'm sure it will put up a fight.

Larry Mullen

[BDA]

Great! Glad it all worked out! 

[Sandyman]

Having put my new tubes in earlier this year I know the frustration. I found that when I put the new Stainless tubes in a spray bottle of soapy water really helped. Wiggling them through the frame grommets is a chore. Good luck.
Sandyman

[dakazman]

 Jlmullen2 , remember to put the protective seal in frame and lube them when reassembling.
Dakazman