Clutch Hose Length & Routing

[summerinmaine]

Background: I have a RHD S2 that I'm re-assembling. It has a braided clutch hose and from elbow to elbow (of the 90 degree fittings) has a length of ~33-33.5 inches (US). I fitted a high torque starter and now the hose is a bit too short to route in the manner done previously: across the cylindrical body of the Lucas starter, and attached to the (Spyder) chassis cross-brace below the bell housing, then to the slave. I've had a number of suggestions for re-routing, and the best alternative for my car seems to be across the top of the bell housing and held (not tightly secured) there by "P" clips. It looks like it will clear the 4-2-1 header with no risk of contact (via zip-tie to a chassis rail; though heat shielding may be desirable).

At any event, my semi-precise measurement indicate a desired length (elbow-to-elbow) of ~34.5 inches for the proposed route. Can anyone who has this kind of routing confirm my measurement? Tomorrow, I'll just try it, but it would be nice to know in advance whether I have a reasonable prospect of success.

[summerinmaine]

Short by ~2 inches, as I feared.

Doesn't seem to be a clear answer, from what I've learned subsequent to the OP. The guy (not Jeff) at JAE referred my query to Viking MotorSport, and the Elan guru there said he just made up a longer line out of solid tubing.

I'm kinda curious as to why, if this is a known issue with the starter swop, the vendors don't mention it nor, apparently, stock any longer hoses?

[oldelanman]

I'm kinda curious as to why, if this is a known issue with the starter swop, the vendors don't mention it nor, apparently, stock any longer hoses?

Hi Jim,
As stated in my response to the earlier post on this topic, my off-the-shelf Goodridge S/S one piece hose is 40" long. If anything it's a bit too long for my car with a standard starter motor and routing under the bellhousing but would certainly cope with the high torque starter without the need to reroute over the bellhousing.
Best regards,

[summerinmaine]

I'm kinda curious as to why, if this is a known issue with the starter swop, the vendors don't mention it nor, apparently, stock any longer hoses?

Hi Jim,
As stated in my response to the earlier post on this topic, my off-the-shelf Goodridge S/S one piece hose is 40" long. If anything it's a bit too long for my car with a standard starter motor and routing under the bellhousing but would certainly cope with the high torque starter without the need to reroute over the bellhousing.
Best regards,

Thanks Roger!

I have a full set of fresh Goodridge clutch/brake hoses. I've never used them because the S2 I bought from Russ was already equipped. But it looks like those won't help as they are all stock lengths.

[oldelanman]

Thanks Roger!

I have a full set of fresh Goodridge clutch/brake hoses. I've never used them because the S2 I bought from Russ was already equipped. But it looks like those won't help as they are all stock lengths.

Hi again Jim,
If it's any help I've just dug out the old original 3 piece steel/rubber/steel pipe from my spares (never throw anything away !) and it measures 43.5" end to end. As I said my Goodridge S/S pipe measures around 40" as near as I can tell with it fitted to the car so it looks about right as a replacement for the original. If the new Goodridge pipe you have is shorter maybe it's for LHD ?

Regards,

[summerinmaine]

Thanks Roger!

I have a full set of fresh Goodridge clutch/brake hoses. I've never used them because the S2 I bought from Russ was already equipped. But it looks like those won't help as they are all stock lengths.

Hi again Jim,
If it's any help I've just dug out the old original 3 piece steel/rubber/steel pipe from my spares (never throw anything away !) and it measures 43.5" end to end. As I said my Goodridge S/S pipe measures around 40" as near as I can tell with it fitted to the car so it looks about right as a replacement for the original. If the new Goodridge pipe you have is shorter maybe it's for LHD ?

Regards,

Thanks for the measurements Roger. The Goodridge clutch hose is still in its package, and not marked LHD/RHD. But, the hose that I'm playing with is the one that was on the car, and was fitted just fine when the Lucas starter was in place, so that can't be the answer methinks. I'm just going to look for a local "off-road" supply house, I guess, and try to rustle up a longer hose section and reuse only the 90 degree fittings.

BTW it is an "off-road/racing" only product over here because the DOT, in its infinite wisdom, does not trust these "unsafe" braided SS Teflon hoses as a replacement for the OEM plastic tube only hose.

[prezoom]

Jim,

You can get DOT approved braided hoses made up from Crown Performanmce in Vista. Had some made up for my other restoration.

Rob Walker
26-4889

[summerinmaine]

Jim,

You can get DOT approved braided hoses made up from Crown Performanmce in Vista. Had some made up for my other restoration.

Rob Walker
26-4889

Thanks Rob!

I finally found a way to make it fit, and no, I didn't cut the hose in half and then splice it with duck tape!

I did, however, take one of the coupling elbows off, and then thread the narrower hose coupling BETWEEN the starter and the block. It now fits comfortably and is tucked up out of the way of road debris. I had tried to thread this gap before (it's a bit snug in there) but I guess the coupling elbow was hanging on something.. The hose without the coupling went through very easily.

Thanks for all the help, y'all.

ps. The ETA for first fire-up is now Saturday noon! Why the rush, after all these years of delay? It appears that I have a date in a couple of days, and I thought it best not to show up in my jeep/camper box rig. That might have looked a bit too presumptious!

Just for S&G I measured the hose portion without elbows and it was just a touch under 28 inches. Each of the elbows is about 3 inches in length, so total is ~34 inches