Dan :
Having once wrecked (and subsequently lost) a TR3 due to a line rotting
through, my inclination would be to replace the pipes.
However, since they are at a relative high spot, they are unlikely to be
internally corroded, so if the outside looks free from corrosion, they
are probably OK. If the outside looks corroded, I'd definitely replace
them.
One other lesson from the school of hard knocks (pun intended) : always
make sure your handbrake works! I'd still have that car, if I hadn't
been ignoring the bad/stretched handbrake cable.
Randall
59 TR3A daily driver
Dan Buettner wrote:
>
> To remove or not to remove? That is the question.
>
> My '57 TR3 has the type of calipers where a pipe joins the two
> halves. I am doing a nut-and-bolt restoration, and the little
> character on one shoulder is telling me to remove the pipes and
> replace them. The character on the other shoulder says it's not
> worth the potential heartache/expense that would result from ruining
> one or both calipers.
>
> (And then there are the visions of one of them popping when I stand
> on the pedal while watching a truck jackknife on the road ahead of
> me, and all the fluid in the single line brake system pouring out
> onto the highway)
>
> At any rate, I've been soaking the bleed screws, hose union and pipe
> unions with repeated shots of PB blaster over the last few days.
>
> What is the list's advice on whether to attempt removal of these
> pipes or not? I have no way of knowing whether these pipes have been
> in place since 1957 or not. On the one hand, if they've lasted this
> long who's to say they won't last another 43 years, and on the other,
> if they've lasted 43 years who's to say that they aren't ready to
> burst, you know?
>
> Advice, please.
>
> Dan
> Des Moines, Iowa -- where it could be early May, if one didn't know
> it's still February.
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> Dan Buettner - Des Moines, Iowa - mailto:danb@thelittlemacshop.com
>
> 1977 Spitfire, FM64159U, now with an O too. Runs & drives, but shakes
> like crazy; needs new tires and a steering/suspension rebuild.
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickndan/gmachine/greenmachine.html
>
> 1957 TR3, TS15098L. Needs an O. Undergoing frame-off restoration begun 9/99.
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickndan/TR3/TR3.html
>
> 1988 Honda Civic 4WD Wagon. Gets me to work and back home again every day.
> No home page. (go figure)
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