If I had taken any notice of last nights Weather Forecast, I would never have left the house.

They were painting quite a Gloomy picture 'Chance of Rain' and all that sort of stuff but it turned out to be a real 'Scorcher!'

So what better time than to go and get some 'Mikalor' Stainless Steel Hose Clips, for the restoration of my Red XJS 'Cherry Blossom'

Apart from the fact that they are Stainless Steel, the main advantage from my point of view, is they can be done up with a small socket or spanner, as the

Hose Clips on an XJS can be difficult to get a Screw Driver on.

Plus a good excuse for a nice run out, so the GF packed up a 'Picnic' and off we went!

This was our only real day out since the Start of this Summer, mainly owing to the fact that if it hadn't been raining, then it was blowing a Gale.

But not To-day!

Today the Weather was perfect and the XJS was running like a dream, as we headed out through Essex for a great day of driving.

Its hard to try and find the words to describe what a great Car this is, so all I can say is that it was a privilege to be behind the wheel.

And a great day out to collect the 'Mikalor' Hose Clips.

HMOG! £40 for this little lot, so hopefully it will be worth it.

 

sounds like a GREAT plan, heres one from me and wife 40yrs and counting, at ice cream shop, RHD she aint driving!

 

OB, why do you not use what we call Aircraft Hose clamps??

This selection is Stainless Steel and as you can see, not only are they available in a variety of sizes, they can be tightened/loosened with either a screwdriver or socket/nut driver.

You can also see how compact they are compared to what you've spent a Lot of money on. I don't know what these would sell for in UK, but they're Very Economical (cheap) on this side of the pond. Add to that, they can be had at Any auto parts store, even WalMart. Larger sizes are more expensive of course.

Where I grew up No One used anything else and I wouldn't have Any other clamps on my car!
(';')

 

Hi Elinor

Yours were like the ones I just took off!

While there is nothing wrong with using that type, I decided to go OTT and buy the best that were available.

That £40 included the hose, which was quite expensive in its own right.

After having had some experience with changing the bottom hoses on an XJS Where I wound up in A & E dripping blood all over their nice carpet.

I felt that using this type of Clamp would make the Job much easier if I had to do it again.

 

That sure is a lovely Car Ron, if only we had the roads and your kind of Weather.

 

OB,

Good to hear about the purchase and your day out.

I went out last night with mine, top down as always. Unfortunately it rained last night whilst I was in the pub with the top down. Occupational hazard here in the UK! Still, a 30 mile late night top-down run down the motorway revelling in the stars above seemed to dry out the interior. Just what these cars were made for!

Paul

 

Following on from your Advice, I also bought a bottle of proper Car Shampers! (in fact I bought two! it works great)

 

Be careful not to tighten the bolt too much. Too much torque makes the hoses weaker.
It is the problem of Mikalor clips when used on rubber hoses. They are made to be used as exhaust clamps as well, so you could tighten them too much with a socket wrench.

 

Cheers Ikuma

I will certainly bear that in mind, when I put them on and in point of fact have just bought some more to go on the exhaust.

 

just for interest if you look close at those clamps the threaded screw and nut a steel, not stainless steel the actual clamp band is SS, but after some time regular iron will rust and seize, touch one lightly with a grinder if it sparks its iron based, if no sparks its good SS!

but they do make them with SS screws and nuts.

 

I knew the bolts were not Stainless when I bought them and am going to use some Copper Grease on the Threads.

If I can undo conventional Clips that may have gone a bit rusty with a Screwdriver, the bolt type head you get with these should make them very easy to undo with a Socket.

 

Elinor I prefer Jubilee clips, but can't find them here. :-(
They are solid on the inside so don't cut into the hose like the ones you pictured.
Stainless screws in stainless nuts could be a recipe for disaster for anyone that doesn't realise that anti-seize is vital.