Quality Hose Clamps?

I found the type you describe. They are a solid band with raised teeth instead of slots cut in the band. There is also a sleeve under the worm-drive area to prevent scuffing the hose. These are designed to be used with the trick silicone automotive hoses on the ricers around town.

They are called Gator Clamps and are distributed by Competition Cams. You should be able to find them at just about any performance store.

I had to order one size smaller for my 1/4" hose than Gator provided. The clamp was made by Gemi of Germany.

Prices started at a buck a piece and went to 1.50 or so .

They come in aluminum or stainless steel. Make sure they are getting you the stainless! They don't strip out as easy.

 

http://www.abaofamerica.com/products.asp

I found these to be very nice

 

Nice indeed.

 

They are not technically correct but I use them where it is a fuel or coolant application cause I drive the car and dont want to catch fire or leak.
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ABA clamps only sell through McMaster-Carr, but are not listed as such under McMaster's online catalog. Supposedly, they are carried at West Marine stores (boating), but my local West Marine does not stock them. They don't want to sell direct.....good luck finding the damned things!

 

These clamps are widely available through import performance outlets. Esp for turbo cars, ABA and even better types of clamps, are commonly used. Google for hose companies.

 

Maritime hardware shops in Marina's often sell very nice high-quality hoseclamps.

 

Sources for Aba


http://www.western-marine.com/page118.htm

Steve G. hangs out here he has them

http://www.ultimategarage.com/abaprice.html

http://www.bakerprecision.com/hoseclmp.htm

 

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=134704086&postcount=4

 

This place has lots of Ferrari/European hardware, hoses, ect. Including Norma and ABA hose clamps in Std and Stainless Steel.

http://www.newcoproducts.com/

Mark

 

The Gator Clamps I mentioned are made by Norma with the exception of the smallest, 1/4", made by Gemi.

 

I'm sure the quality of the ABA clamps is very good, but I just can't stand the blue paint on them. Makes them look very cheap I think(although I believe they also make other ones in all SS). I have used Norma clamps in the past on my first Ferrari,they look really nice and original.

 

Well, call me stupid, but I just bought a box of 315 Stainless (marine grade) worm-gear clamps from Ace Hardware. They seem to tighten down well, although I'm using Gates Green Stripe in 1 5/8", so they'll need to be tight to take up the exta 0.6 MM around each pipe. I had one 'blow out' on me, the worm gear chewed the threads out of the steel band. All others appear to torque down pretty tight. I'll be filling and testing out the pipes today with a Coolant pressure tester - should I have failures, I'll probably be special-ordering the ABAs and have to re-do much of the cooling system.

 

Lou these are fine hose clamps
http://www.powerengineering.co.uk/mikalor/

Dale.

 

Well, I dumped 6 gallons of coolant/water into the system - she takes just UNDER six gallons, I had to bleed some off at the radiator. It sure helps to leave open a bleed screw (radiator first, then thermostat housing) so the air can escape as the coolant fills all those hoses/pipes.

Once the system was full, I attached the coolant system tester and pumped away.....after several tries with the sealing cap, I got a good seal and pressurized the system to 16 PSI. I had leaks at the radiator bleed screw, thermostat bleed screw, a hose clamp at the water pump, and finally the thermo switch into the coolant expansion tank was loose. Once everything was tightened down, I let everything sit at 16 PSI for a few minutes and checked around. No leaks in the system, so I'm guessing that I'm done.

Is 16 PSI enough pressure?

 

Heh, checked the owners manual - it states 12,8 PSI on the filler cap.....

What the heck is 12,8? I assume they meant 12 PSI......

 

Michael -- In most places outside of the US, the character used for the decimal point is a comma (not a period) -- so 12,8 = 12.8 in US-speak. (You should be grateful that they translated it to p.s.i. rather than leaving it as something like "0,9 bar" )

 

M.James,

Latest rad caps are uprated to 1.1 (1,1) bar = 15.96psi, say 16psi.

When I recently went from an old 0.9 bar cap (with distorted pressure flange) to a 1.1 bar unit on a 3.2 Mondial I suffered a series of leaks & failures - expansion tank, tank->block hose & block->heater valve hose.

Testing beforehand would have probably shown up some weaknesses, although pressurising when hot is the ultimate "test".

BTW, any advice on replacement hoses for 3x8 engines? The cloth-reinforced OEM ones are damned exe - are generic "auto-shop" ones up to the job or is it necessary to source "special quality" ones? I'm talking the smaller gauge straight lines such as 16mm & 19mm.

 

WOW....I have a 20 PSI radiator cap on mine. That sucker is coming off this weekend for good, even though its new. Since I tested everything to the 16 PSI limit, and sealed everything, I should be more than safe with a 12/13 PSI cap in place from now on...

For the coolant hoses, I can't rave enough about Gates Green Stripe in 1 5/8" (which works out to 40.6mm internal diameter). The Ferrari pipes are 40mm, so 40.6 gives you a very comfortable installation, with a good seal from a standard worm-gear hose clamp. I used pure silicone spray to lubricate the hose, and it easily slips on to every fitting in the car. The hose comes in three-foot 'sticks' and can easly be cut to length with a handheld coping or hacksaw. Many of the lengths you'll need for a Ferrari 308 are roughly 5-6 inches each, but there are several of these all over the car.....You really should replace the hoses under the front of the car, where the send/return coolant tubes emerge from the transmission tunnel area. Mine were 20-year-old OEM rubber hoses, but are extremely hard to reach if you don't have the battery tray pan off the car. Since I also had the valence off as well, it made for easy access and replacement. If a old hose/clamp needed pursuasion during removal, use a Dremel with a thin cutting wheel to slice the hose/clamp lengthwise, and pull it apart with your fingers. There are two coolant hoses under the car, between the fuel tanks. I used the Dremel on one, and a VERY sharp shop knife on the other -space was very tight here. NEVER press too hard and nick the aluminum tube under the hose, you just want to cut the rubber.

For air/heater hoses, I wouldn't kill yourself looking for the external black cloth braid. Unless you plan on a concourse restoration, go to your nearest Mercedes dealership and take some samples with you. They can size up replacement lines from behind the counter, or help you source quality metric-diameter lines in your area. The clear CAVIS Benz hose that extends down from the coolant expansion tank is quite rare to source, but if you need these types of OEM-style hoses, these are the folks who can hook you up:

http://www.newcoproducts.com/index.htm

My local Authorized Mercedes dealership hooked me up with free hose when I mentioned that they were for a Ferrari, your luck may vary. One word about the CAVIS lines - the hose walls are VERY thick, and can interfere with turning and removing the radiator cap since these hoses are often installed way past the sealing ring on the pipe fitting. I prefer the clear hose, so you can at least see the coolant color clearly in an overflow situation.

 

Thanks a bunch for the info.

FYI I was under the car last night & saw that the heater intake hose (that runs from the heater valve in the engine bay across the lower face of the oil cooler & connects to the al tube which runs forward to the cabin) was v. badly chafed from the oil cooler surround. The hose is part #43 in the fig below.

It runs so close by the cooler & the cooler edges are so sharp that I can't see ANY hose not chafing! This is how it is on a Mondial - is the 308/328 similar? I am thinking of replacing it with a sleeved hose (say 19mmID hose with a length of ~30mmID hose as a sacrificial protective sleeve).
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308 don't have that particular layout/problem, but they share the need to have "protective sleeves" added in many places -- especially on the large Aluminum coolant tubes (which shouldn't touch anything other than their "protective sleeves").