Brake Pipes

OK, so a rather short one this time. I was going to wait, but there is lots going on and hopefully lots to write up in the very near future, so thought I would get this one out of the way.

Last time I re-fitted a new front axle case and added all the brake cylinders for each of the wheels, this time I fitted the brake pipes. So, need to get my wallet out again and buy some new parts. This is a snapshot of what I got. I am staggered each time I buy parts, whether new or second-hand, the smallest parts are stupidly priced for what they seem to be!

I didn’t buy everything new, there are two brass connectors, this one (The cruddy looking one) shows one (the clean one I didn’t actually need) and another which is a 5-way connector. I cleaned these up and treated them to a bit of etching clear coat to keep them looking good.

What I did buy, was a complete set of pre-made pipes. I dont have the tools to do brake pipes, and didn’t fancy spending more on tools I will never use again. (I Hope).

I also had to recover a part from the old chassis, the little bracket that holds the 5-way connector in position. I cut the screws off, salvaged the part, cleaned it and painted it. So talking about price of things, to buy a new one of these, which is just a piece of bent metal with a couple of holes in, more than £13.00. Now thats not a lot on its own, but it adds up, and for a simple piece of metal, that I could probably make myself.

First off was to get the pipes across the back axle. A 3-way connector was bolted to the axle case and gently routed the pipes from the connector to each of the wheels, using P-clips and grommets to support them as necessary.

My only slight disappointment with the pre-made pipes was that the right hand one, seemed a little too long, so had to make a, what seems like an unnecessary S bend in it.

Next up, fix the 5-way bracket to the chassis, using the old chassis as a reference as to where to put it. Gently bent and shaped the front right pipe, and got that connected up. Bending them is pretty easy, just need to be super careful not to kink them.

Routed the next pipe to the rear axle, which was pretty easy. Added a number of clips to hold it firm on top of the chassis. Oh, here’s another thing that pissed me off, the price of these little clips, nearly £3 each!

Final part was the left front, or Near side front. this one needs to head off towards the back, from the 5-way connector and then along the gearbox support up the other side and then to the front wheel. First time I did this, had it routed really nicely, but it was short!

Had to re-do it, which meant more small holes in the chassis (not ideal) and it not being as I would like it.

Ran out of time, so will come back to this and tidy the routing up a little. (you can just about see the pipes, not looking ideal).

Thats it, said it would be a short one. There are loads of other bits I have been doing, so will write those up as soon as they are finished (just waiting for some bits to come back to me, will be clearer about that when I do finish them).

All this effort is focused on clearing the decks of as many small, outstanding jobs as possible so I can start on the last (hopefully) big jobs, Gearbox and Engine.