As I continue to work down my list of things to address, I'm getting closer to needing to do something about my coolant cross-over pipe. Mine is pretty crusty and while it doesn't leak - it's not pretty and I hate to put it back on knowing it's going to flake pieces of junk off inside the cooling system. Plus it will never be easier to access than it is right now.

Here are the options I have come across:

1. Either make or have one made out of 316 stainless steel. I priced it out the pieces and I think I could do it for around $300 - but I would never have to worry about it again.
2. Same as above except use aluminum pipe instead of 316 stainless steel. I think I could do that in the low $200 range.
3. Clean up the one the best I can and use it. The Wizard aluminum radiator is less susceptible to clogging than the factory radiator. Add in some coolant filters and all is good.

EDIT - I guess there's always #4 - make one out of copper pipe...

Are there any other options I am missing? Or better yet - is there anyone out there making these that I don't know about?

Here's what I have today:

 

Make one out of stainless say I!

 

I purchased all the ones I needed back in the early '90's, in Stainless from Jag Parts suppliers here in OZ, but I heard that they are NLA, which is a Bugga.

Memory, HA, $235 each. HUGE $$ for back then, but all 4 of mine were leaking, so no choice really.

You probably have, but look around, maybe someone has New Old Stocker.

EAC4191 quick Google
https://jagxjsparts.com/products/wat...litre-eac-4191

BINGO.

 

pic of mine Chrome plated in out( thats what the plater said anyway)!

cross over cooling pipe,chromed.
26yrs and holding!
almost forgot,, $30 usd.

 

Nice! You'd have to mistreat your car pretty bad to get that to rust!

 

Cool... Does that mean you took the factory pipe to a plater? Is that possible if there is corrosion of any kind? What are the limitations (if this is what was meant) using an old crossover?

 

YES take it to any Chrome plating shop, tell them what you need!

 

Thanks for the link, Grant. I talked to the guy at Jaguar World Corp today and bought the one he had listed. It's used but has been cleaned and should work well for what I need.

He also mentioned that they were in the process of recreating the cross-over pipe. It sounded like the timeframe was in the next few months.

I'm tempted to take the one I just bought to my chrome plater and let him plate it. I would never have to worry about it again.
I'm also tempted to make one out of stainless steel. I'd never have to worry about it again, and I'd love the challenge. Plus it would give me an excuse to buy a TIG welder

But at the end of the day I need to get this car back on the road. Maybe I'll try to save the world another day.

 

Hi Thorsen

Have you thought about having the Crossover Pipe Powder Coated?

Then you could also do the Header Tank as well

 

To get the powder coat to stick the metal has to be sand-blasted. I don't think they could do a good enough job on the inside of the pipe or tank. I certainly wouldn't want to try it and end up with flake of powder coat inside my cooling system if things didn't work.
Chrome plating is different in that the base metal is hot-dipped. So it would be easy enough to plate the pipe.

 

Powder coating and chrome plating only really protect the outside. It is very difficult to coat or plate the inside of something like this, and they rust from the inside out. And if you don't remove every speck of rust from the inside of a used crossover, it won't coat or plate in that area. The electoplating used in chrome plating does not like to plate concave surfaces. If you've ever had a chrome bumper replated, the inside concave surface barely plates.

​​​​​​Several people over on Jag-lovers have made new crossovers out of various copper fittings and tubing. Check out that forum. Aluminum or stainless would be even better if you can find someone to weld up something.

 

AND, the reason they rot from the inside is the owners/caretakers/whatever ,NEVER keep the coolant up to spec, not even close in many cases.

Sure, we are playing catch up with all our cars, but I believe once sorted, coolant up to spec and kept that way, these items, be them s/hand or new, steel or stainless, will last all us out without any problems.

The reason I got the stainless ones waaaay back, was there was nothing else available at the time.

 

I'm amazed at the frequency I have to remove powder coating from used parts.
When that stuff gets into the internal workings you are surely screwed.

 

I've seen these recently for sale on Facebook someone was making chromed versions of the cross over pipe and also the coolant tank. Can't find it now, I'm surprised they weren't advertised here. I use this website and jag-lovers for all of my Jaguar needs but there are actually a lot more resources that I don't know about!

 

So the experience with Jaguar World Corp hasn't been the greatest. There was a misunderstanding on when the part would ship. I was under the impression that it was ready to ship but they're in the process of moving warehouses and it's not ready to ship.

So I went out to the garage and took a good look at my existing pipe. The outside is super crusty but I was surprised that there's no rust inside the pipe. I took the wire brush to it and got all the loose paint and rust knocked off, then reached for the spray can of Extend Rust Neutralizer:

I was surprised that the back of the label said to not use it on anything over 100*F. That's not going to work.

So then I grabbed the brush-on rust neutralizer. This is good for 200*F. Closer, but not good enough. I'm pretty sure the outside of the pipe will see at least 212*.



I looked into Ospho but I couldn't see a maximum temp on that. I also looked at Evapo-Rust which was promising as you can use it on cast iron cookware, but I didn't like the whole 'submerge the item' part.

So I'm going to use Naval Jelly on it to kill the rust, then top coat it with paint. I think that's going to be the quickest and easiest answer for this.

But if that doesn't work, I'm totally buying a TIG welder so I can make some out of stainless steel and sell them

 

Not wishing to cause too much distress but you don't want paint of any kind inside cooling system pipework, it will come off, it will clog stuff, you won't prevent that. Stainless is good, so is aluminium but whichever you use corrosion is still the enemy, more so with aluminium and it doesn't necessarily occur why most people think it does - i.e. oxidation - there are far worse processes in play. It's all about the periodic table and the behaviour of noble metals Galvanic Series

The best way to prevent corrosion in a cooling system is to ensure you have the correct water / coolant (antifreeze to many) ratio and you keep it replaced - not topped up but periodically replaced, for some types (those originally used by Jaguar) it is two years, for the newer organics it is 5. Then you need to ensure all your earthing points are good, if you get a current flowing in your coolant no amount of paint or corrosion protection will stop what comes next. Cooling systems don't need filters - they need proper and effective maintenance - especially when there are differential metals in the circuit and close contact - much of the corrosion seen isn't corrosion due to oxidation but is galvanic in nature - this is what welds the cylinder heads to the head studs. If you do a flush and find what appears to be sand coming out you have lost aluminium, this sand clogging stuff up is 'ex' aluminium ....

Many of the systems people encounter are in poor shape because they flat out haven't been maintained appropriately - a car that has stood 20 years with coolant in it is highly likely to be damaged, probably significantly so, one that has had only water in it for 20 years will be toast don't waste your time flushing - I've seen cylinder heads that the corrosion has eaten right back behind the head gasket. On the Reliant Kitten I had to have the back of the block cut out and then tig weld filled because it was corroded through next to a cylinder liner. So yu may think it is OK, you flush and think you won right up to the point after a couple of heat cycles when the head lets go.

Doesn't mean I wouldn't be interested in a stainless crossover if one was made available of course

 

To be clear - I'm only painting the outside of the cross-over pipe. The inside is going to be left as-is. I absolutely agree - paint on the inside is going to cause huge issues at some point in time.

 

Can the cross over pipe be electroplated to minimise the rust issue?
The pipe is acid dipped to clean then electroplated for rust protection and then powder coat / paint the outside to make it look pretty.

I see lots of car part done when I am there, steel brake lines with rubber hoses attached is common, rubber is not affected... so they say.
Things come out looking new.

I do this for lots of stuff before painting as it gives ting a rust prevention and is nice and clean to paint.
Key is to clean the best you can before dropping off.

just a thought.

 

Good thought, nver gone that way.

Our PreHE XJ12, 1976, has the original pipe still in use. The car was well cared for, and evidence of proper coolant refresh was noted when I changed the hoses after purchase in 1994. Like you are doing, coolant and radiator out every 5 - 7 years.

NO more corrosion noted last time I did it.

 

Will it fit 1977 pre HE v12? I like the vertical tube, helps to purge system