Cracked coolant line, dag nab it!

[Busted Knuckle]

Well I've used Marine-Tex on wet hot intake manifolds with the t-stat housing broke off in between heats and gone back out and won the feature with it! Then after checking it over ran it the next night and several weeks after until I actually pulled the engine and replaced it because it'd had a knock in it from day one but the harder we ran it, the better it ran. Then I sold it to a "newbie" who ran it for the remainder of the season after replacing the intake and slapping a set of bearings in it! (and when I say he "slapped in a set of bearings I mean slapped in no mic'ing no plastigage just bought a set of .010 over bearings slapped 'em in put the engine in and went racing!)
  BK 

[artvonne]

Paul if he cleans it thoroughly Marine-Tex ain't coming off!

  Im not arguing that it might not work, ive used Marine Tex myself, I had a bunch around for years and used it on occasion. It does work.  Its just that after being around airplanes a while I learned you just bite the bullet and fix things properly. Not saying his Bus is in any way simular to an airplane, just saying that you would not be fixing a leak like his on an airplane any other way than either replacing the line, or having it welded.  And aside from those two fixes, I feel the soft patch is the second best option. It cannot come off or fall off, and so the most that would occur would be only a minor leak. Epoxy, even Marine Tex, has the potential to completely fail, only then you might have epoxy stuck to the pipe you have to clean off, and if the area is not easily accessable youll be pulling the line anyway.

  Pulling the line at home, in your own shop, using all your own tools, will be light years better than changing it out 500 miles from home.

[Busted Knuckle]

Agreed!
  BK 

[Lin]

This is only the coolant system.  If yours is like mine, there are already rubber connections with hose clamps that work for years.  I would be prone to make a patch out some hose with the same ID as the lines OD by slitting it so it fits over the hole and several inches on each side.  I would use a generous amount of silicone and clamp it down over the hole and on each side.  The only downside is that when archaeologists discover it in the future, they will say that you sometimes used shortcuts.

[PP]

Well I've used Marine-Tex on wet hot intake manifolds with the t-stat housing broke off in between heats and gone back out and won the feature with it! Then after checking it over ran it the next night and several weeks after until I actually pulled the engine and replaced it because it'd had a knock in it from day one but the harder we ran it, the better it ran. Then I sold it to a "newbie" who ran it for the remainder of the season after replacing the intake and slapping a set of bearings in it! (and when I say he "slapped in a set of bearings I mean slapped in no mic'ing no plastigage just bought a set of .010 over bearings slapped 'em in put the engine in and went racing!)
  BK 

I think I bought a used car from that kid LOL

[bevans6]

Well, job done!  If my MCI is like other MCI's. the coolant hard line that was the problem is the 1" hard copper tube that runs in a U-shape around the back of the  engine, has a bracket bolted to the transmission, has a connection to the main 1.5" line to the heater core, and has two bosses that feed off to the coolant filter and the compressor head.  Not a trivial tube!

I got a little air powered autobody saw in past all the mess, managed to cut the tube where it was pin-holed, put a section of hose over both ends and reinstalled it.  So far it's working fine.  Hose is clamped with hose clamps and should be no problem long term.

Brian

[Busted Knuckle]

YA!
 BK  

by the way was that well job is done, or job done well?

had to ask!