Series 1 gt4 front coolant hose replacement

Searched the forum but i couldnt find the right tips.

I am replacing the 1 1/2 inch coolant hoses leading into and out of the radiator, and the two short sleeve hoses just before the coolant lines into the chassis.

the top 90deg hose can be reached from the top.

I have removed the access panel under the car which means i can get to the two short sleeves, one sitting on top of the other.

However, the lower sleeve hose connecting the bottom of the radiator can only be accessed from below (you can see it from above but i'll be damned if i'll have the leverage to get the old one off and a new on on).

to get access you need to remove the fibreglass nose panel under the front bumper - do the experts agree with that or is there another way?

This requires removal of the front bumper - done! (gosh, they are heavy!)
drilling out rivets on the trailing edge of the panel under the car - done
drilling out rivets at the front of the panel after removing the grill - tick
Finally, drilling out about a 6 rivets each side running fore to aft along the seam between the fibreglass panel and the front metal valence.

Here i have a challenge - access to those rivets is very difficult. Even if i remove the lower wheel arch panel (put car on mounts, remove wheel, remove access panel) i still dont have a drill that is going to neatly go into that space to drill out the rivets. Even a dremel doesnt work (you end up grinding fibreglass before rivet head).

I want that panel off so i can that hose and to make some repairs to the panel itself.

Sorry, i've written a lot there but can anyone suggest the right way to attack this?

 

thanks, i will try and proceed then - there is probably an tool attachment made for this!

I can see it wont be that hard to replace the rivets in due course but get them out - pita!

 

Thanks for the tips. I am sure the last person installed the new hose without taking the spoiler off - the screws on the clips were facing up. (must remember to do the same so its top out is an option next time. If i stood in the spare wheel well i would go THROUGH it ! It is already holed at the base and on the repair list.

Taking the hood off would also work well from an access POV.

But I wanted to repair that nose so I persevered. In the end I managed two top rivets reaching in with a drill from the front. Then I used a hacksaw blade on one of those blade holder saws and went down the gap between the fibreglass and metal panel, cutting the rivets.

Almost no damage to the glass or metal on the way and it dropped out nicely.

Glad to report very little rust under there, just some minor surface rust and one crossbar under the headlight with a hole. a quick scrape and some por 15 and it will be good for some years.

The nose cone looks like sh*t - I've drenched it in degreaser to prepare it for sanding then glassing. I may then take it too a body shop for a neat job (and get the series one grille powdercoated black while I am at it).

I am assuming a low satin black is the right finish on the nose panel?????

Hope to get on to those hoses tomorrow - good tip on the knife...i will reach straight for the dremel cutting blade!

 

btw GT4 Joe, what colour is your gt4 and is that original? I think mine (sn 10402) was originally a burgundy and was changed by the original owner to silver with boxer pants.

 

Indeed I did and trucked it over to CT. In all honesty I took a flyer when i bought it - it had been in someones hands a long time (since 86 and he was the 2nd real owner), was/is cosmetically dog eared but was mechanically used in the good sense, so everything works. It had a nice continuous history documentation wise which i think is a bit unusual for gt4s and looks good from 10feet. It hasnt been glossed up every 3 years and then shunted to the next owner if you know what I mean.

For its faults it has turned out to be a very honest car (eg popping that nose cone off didnt expose a rust nightmare!) and I'm slowly getting my feet wet freshening it up with the aim it should be driven. So refurb, not restore!

I havent regretted buying it (well, except when I had to pick it up from a drop off point when it arrived..it started raining, the heater was on, it was summer and i couldnt work out how to shut it off, it started running on less than 8, reverse decided to disappear...)

 

and a few pics - on the ramps, removing bumper (note how the top nut was not tightened - my guess is the bodyshop a looong time ago couldnt be bothered to tighten the top nut..)
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bumper off - awful overspray on the fans was removed later this evening with a brillo pad.
access panel removed. By chance i met a local sheet metal fabricator today so I think i will treat the car to a new panel
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the nose panel off, few holes needing a patch of glass - i may let a bodyshop get this is proper shape while I Por15 the inner panel area.
Tomorrow I hope to start on the hoses.
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Hi brian,
the bumper obscured the visibility and access into where the rivets were - even though I ended cutting most of the rivets from the bottom I first had to find out what was holding it on (rivets!) and where they were.

What kinds of clips held the nose panel on? photos? Being a 37 year old car its quite possible that the rivets on mine are not the original fasteners.

I may stay with the rivets - easier to put in than to take out using a swivel headed rivet gun.

 

np Sean and your tips were very valid and useful. Will post a photo when i get home of the sleeve hoses before the chassis tubes - ugly..

Got them on finally, but have a small leak again at the front one but think mainly as i didnt have the right extension to get the lower rad hose clamp tight (rotated them so they were top 'accessible'. I had to make a slightly longer sleeve on one hose to get a good seal. Broke one clip installing (tip: buy a few more clips than needed/Buy more hose than needed).

Bleeding was interesting. i ran the car at idle late last but it was so cold that it took forever to click the themostat over and when it did the temperature plunged. All of the saved fluid when back in (filtered first) and some water to top up what was spilled. Bled well enough and will repeat that a few times.

Water started warming up to temp again so I took it for a test drive - ofcourse after idling for 1/2 hour or more it then decided to run like **** - its happened before and seems a result of being off the road and not been driven hard. Fouled plug etc.

The temp also went down very low, like it was just started.

I crapped myself as i thought that something catastrophic had happened...returned home and the motor was not a smoking, flaming mess. Coolant still in the system. OK...

My guess is that with the low revs, very cold outside temp and no bumper/front nose panel then the engine wasnt going to get to temp. At least thats my take but quite disconcerting to see an engine sit at 90 just fall to 60deg and stay there.

anyone had a similar experience??

 

here is what the internals of one of the pre chassis sleeve hoses looked like.

Hoses are all in. Broke one clip on installation. needed to resize on sleeve to get a seal and now tweaking up the clips to stop small drips now that I have the right socket extension.
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Hi Peter,

thanks for your comments.

The corrosion was limited to the 2 sleeving hoses just before the alu thru chassis pipes. Inlet/outlet to radiator, adjacent hoses and alu pipes were super clean.

it was clear that the 2 sleeving hoses had not been changed in a long time and so there was a lot of buildup there. I suspect that the rad has been rebuilt before as it was in excellent shape.

the small leak that got me to change the hoses wasnt at those sleeving hoses, but I'm glad i replaced all the hoses at the front.

Water temp: i agree, the thermo should keep the engine at a somewhat stable temp..

I'm not sure about the thermostat but cud there be an airlock around the thermostat? or temp sender?

I have the old type housing ie no bleed valve. I would have thought a drive where the car is going through a number of steep inclines/declines should have been enough to dislodge most airlocks. Eventually I'd like to convert that housing to the one you showed in your post.

Perhaps changing out that thermostat is a simple place to start. off to the parts reference thread to see if there is a napa option (or is a 308 thermostat very particular?)

 

i've gone ahead and ordered a tstat, gasket etc. reading other threads it sounds as if the tstat is on the way out (opens but then the spring is loosing the strengtht to close again.

Now i wish i had put radiator drain taps on my coolant pipes so i could empty the cooling system a bit, but will just do it from the radiator i guess.

will busy myself with other tasks till they arrive...

 

thanks Peter.

 

While i am doing the t-stat i am replacing the small sleeve hose from the t-stat housing to the alu down tube, and the two hoses going to the header tank (which was a new alu item from superperformance).

As i dont have the tool to remove all those carb trumpet nuts to get the airbox off, I'm replacing these with the airbox on. I''m all thumbs but the access is quite sufficient so far.

Struggling to remove the t-stat housing and have posted a separate help note on Dr Kanangas T-stat change thread.

While I'm at it... I have dealt with the corrosion under the header tank - a scrub up and some por-15. The finish is too glossy but it looks much better than before and the I sleep better knowing its not festering any longer.

Front grill is off at a powder coaters.
front nose piece is in the basement awaiting repairs
fibreglass air scoops are primed and awaiting some more paint
a new access panel has been made locally to replace the tired old one.
fan blades have been given a clean

Once the t-stat is in, its up on the stands to replace a clamp on the front hoses for the right size and to eradicate a drip hopefully with a bit of tightening.

this all started with a intermittent leak from a front hose...once done 7 main hoses will be changed (still some left), a tstat and a bunch of other stuff. luckily its winter..

 

some pics of the tstat change (getting that housing to budge was achieved by a little leverage under the housing with a screwdriver) and related hose. Timed with de-rusting under the header tank and, while you are at it.....a good time to give the air tubes a scrub and paint.
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new tstat is in, with new surrounding hoses, new header tank back in. Long drive on the weekend and all was well...until further leaks from the chassis coolant sleeve pipes front and back, and a drip from the lower rad sleeve pipe.

thinking about it I was wondering why the leaks started now and my thinking is that once the new header tank was installed (the previous had a pinhole) the whole system is now properly pressurised and is now finding successive weakest links.

Will let you know when all leaks are eliminated.

(yes, i have considered the super duper coolant hoses commonly mentioned, however, i can see now that any work on the cooling system (or work requiring hoses to be taken off) usually means you need to cut the hoses, so for now i will go with Napa grade rad hoses).