last week I posted a question about what I thought was a leaking NOS heater core in my C1. I remember reading in a prior thread about some parts houses suppling plumbing "street els" for use as the 90 degree bent pipe for the return line from the core, but thought I had gotten the correct part from a local Corvette supply company here in the north east.
This weekend I got under the passenger side and looked over all of the corbin clamps and found that what I had was not a bad core but a leak at one of the clamps. So I went out yesterday morning and bought all new worm screw clamps and relegated the corbin clamps to the tool box. My mistake was in leaving the one corbin clamp on the hose that comes into the passenger compartment on the back side of the 90 degree elbow. I should mention that I changed out the original radiator cap for a modern 14 lbs type.
I took the car out for a test ride and found no leaks. On the return trip about a mile from home I pulled the heater cable to allow water into the core. Got home and laid under the package tray to inspect the core and al the connections and found no more leaks. Great I leaned over the shifter and turned off the key, got out and walked two or three steps away from the car when I heard a loud pop, turned to find what looked like 2 gallons of antifreeze pouring into the car from the heater, flooding my newly installed rugs.
after vacuming up the water and allowing the unit to cool, Here's what I found. The 90 degree street elbow had popped out of the heater hose leaving the corbin clamp on the hose. Had I still been inspecting the clamps when this happened I surely would have been blinded and severly scalded by the 200 degree antifreeze. Had it happened when my honey was riding with me the night before I am sure here legs would have been severly scalded.
I am sorry if this starts to sound like a rant. But I am angry. Angry with the parts houses that sell these crappy incorrect elbows and don't tell the unsuspecting users of the inherent danges of installing them with corbin clamps. I have read thread this week about soldering a lip around the opening or gluing the hose to the pipe. No one warned about the effects of a failure of this type. Well, I took steps to insure this will never happen again! Had I or my wife been severly injured, I can assure you all that I would have taken action against the supply house that sold this bogus part, but that would have been small consolation compared to the potention injury.
Beware, If you have this set-up get it out now!
Don
This weekend I got under the passenger side and looked over all of the corbin clamps and found that what I had was not a bad core but a leak at one of the clamps. So I went out yesterday morning and bought all new worm screw clamps and relegated the corbin clamps to the tool box. My mistake was in leaving the one corbin clamp on the hose that comes into the passenger compartment on the back side of the 90 degree elbow. I should mention that I changed out the original radiator cap for a modern 14 lbs type.
I took the car out for a test ride and found no leaks. On the return trip about a mile from home I pulled the heater cable to allow water into the core. Got home and laid under the package tray to inspect the core and al the connections and found no more leaks. Great I leaned over the shifter and turned off the key, got out and walked two or three steps away from the car when I heard a loud pop, turned to find what looked like 2 gallons of antifreeze pouring into the car from the heater, flooding my newly installed rugs.
after vacuming up the water and allowing the unit to cool, Here's what I found. The 90 degree street elbow had popped out of the heater hose leaving the corbin clamp on the hose. Had I still been inspecting the clamps when this happened I surely would have been blinded and severly scalded by the 200 degree antifreeze. Had it happened when my honey was riding with me the night before I am sure here legs would have been severly scalded.
I am sorry if this starts to sound like a rant. But I am angry. Angry with the parts houses that sell these crappy incorrect elbows and don't tell the unsuspecting users of the inherent danges of installing them with corbin clamps. I have read thread this week about soldering a lip around the opening or gluing the hose to the pipe. No one warned about the effects of a failure of this type. Well, I took steps to insure this will never happen again! Had I or my wife been severly injured, I can assure you all that I would have taken action against the supply house that sold this bogus part, but that would have been small consolation compared to the potention injury.
Beware, If you have this set-up get it out now!
Don
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