Silicone hose's

[baggy798]

http://www.partsforvolvosonline.com/...oducts_id=8140

http://www.partsforvolvosonline.com/...oducts_id=8142

About £180 all in, that's not expensive at all because a set from Volvo will be near enough the same price. They do them in black if you want the stock look.

Yes, the silicone (3 ply) intake hose will improve performance, the stock turbo intake is quite soft (1 ply) and especially after a few years are susceptible to being sucked closed under boost.

Ohhh, they do the intake hose for B230ET's now, rogerthechorister will be happy!

http://www.partsforvolvosonline.com/...oducts_id=8814

baggy
ex Tiddlywinks World Champion 86/87

[deeman940]

i will be getting the full Do88 kit when I do my power upgrades,,,,silly not to in my opinion, just one thing you don't want to be worrying about failing, especially with upped boost and spirited driving! Last a lot longer than rubber items if the car is a long term keeper.

[ThePurplePanther]

Just a note of the do88 kit - it doesn't include the two little hoses for the oil cooler. They need ordering from Volvo (not that expensive btw, and a special oil resistant makeup).

They are weaker that the do88 ones - i know as when my headgasket let go and over pressurised the system it was one of these that failed... Useful fuse effect!

Alex

[ie940]

The comment about clamps sounds like a good one. Silicones do tend to need to "bed in" and often need nipping up, my experience has found.

I'm also not convinced they are as robust against contact and rubbing as rubbers, although this comment is totally unfounded.

I would personally replace with OE rubbers or just leave it alone.

[canis]

You'd think there'd be some sort of large heat-shrink available. Just slip it over and run the engine for a while. I'd love to tart-up the engine bay, and the hoses are a bit unsightly. But they've been there for nineteen years, so swapping out that longevity seems a bit silly.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by canis

You'd think there'd be some sort of large heat-shrink available. Just slip it over and run the engine for a while. I'd love to tart-up the engine bay, and the hoses are a bit unsightly. But they've been there for nineteen years, so swapping out that longevity seems a bit silly.

There is, pick your colour, shrunk size and length :

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/cable...848558&sra=oss

Also bear in mind it usually takes a heat-gun or a flame to shrink most heatshrinks, in other words about 200C+ so unless you plan on cooking your engine to fit it then it still needs the heat-gun. Don't forget to take the shrink-ratio into account as well and the shrunk size will need to be slightly smaller than the OD of the hose you're fitting it to or it will just slide up and down and maybe even rattle quietly.

When shrinking to a preformed/bent/shaped hose, fit a longer length of heatshrink than you think you'll need, shrink it then trim the ends with a razor blade, scalpel or sharp knife, similar to how a chef trims excess pastry when making a pie.

Knowing the price of it, it's likely to be similar to the cost of the silicone hoses in the first place but have a look and see what you come up with.

[canis]

Largest shrunk diameter, 67mm. Which I suppose is probably big enough for radiator hoses. Shame the only colour is black, haha!

[Laird Scooby]

If the largest shrunk diameter has a 2:1 shrink ratio, that means it starts off at 134mm so will shrink to whatever size in between, just remove the heat gun when it has shrunk to where you want it.

As you say though, shame it's only in black! Some other colours are available in larger sizes but as i said earlier, the cost is going to be similar to the silicone hoses so it's swings and roundabouts really.

Another alternative would be Plasti-Dip Paint :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&...l_2spqoyb2ia_e

http://www.plastidip.co.uk/landing/

[stegreg]

My concern on using heat shrink is.....would it still leave an amount of flexibility in the hoses, or would the "shrinkage" combined with the heat "hardening" the shrink stuff make them a bit too firm for flexing areas like main rad to engine hoses?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by stegreg

My concern on using heat shrink is.....would the "shrinkage" combined with the heat "hardening" the shrink stuff make them a bit too firm for flexing areas like main rad to engine hoses?

Probably - but why spend a tenner on creating a copy of something that you can buy the genuine item for a fiver?

In other words, heatshrink at that sort of size is more expensive than the silicone hoses. Why spend more on heatshrink to imitate the look when you can have the real McCoy for less?