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Color for a Heater Return Pipe

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stretchit2

stretchit2

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Gentlemen,

My Healey is a 3000 MKII BT7 Tri-carb and I am replacing the Heater Return Pipe, as the one currently install is all wrong. But I digress, I ordered and received the pipe from the very knowledgeable people at British Car Specialist (BCS). When the part arrived I was surprised to find that it was painted black as my expectation was the pipe would be copper.

After referring to the Anderson/Moment Restoration Guide it seems that this Return Pipe has been treated in a variety of fashions, from copper, painted black or green. I then looked at a number of tri-carb pictures, only to find different cars approached this differently.

I'm not exactly a purist, but I would like this to be correct. When ordering the part from BCS they made a point of finding out exactly what car I had and sent the pipe with black paint on it. Here is my question, should I leave it black, paint if green, or strip the paint off and return it to copper.

Stretch
 
Use the color you like the best .IMOP a polished copper pipe is hard to beat but you have to keep it polished so it looks neat,---Keoke-- :laugh:
 
The heater pipe on a Mk 2 tricarb would originally have been Healey Engine Green. And you don't have to keep polishing it...
 
Stretch, there's nothing wrong with being a "purist", I wish more of us were purists. It's your money and your car if you're not sure BCS is correct then do more research. Try and find an original unrestored car similar to yours and start there. I would call BCS and talk to them about why they feel black is correct for your car. Personally, I've never seen a black one but to be honest I haven't seen that many tri-carbs. It makes sense that upon assembly the heater return pipe would have been connected to the cylinder head but not to the heater hose coming out of the firewall, thus it would have been painted engine color. As time goes on though the paint usually would wear off leaving the dull copper pipe exposed.
 
tahoe healey said:
Check with Bill Boulton as he is the guy with the Tri-carb registry. You should register with him anyway. Great guy and mechanic. tricarb@aol.com
Click to expand...

:savewave: "TH"

The heater pipe on a Mk 2 tricarb would originally have been Healey Engine Green. And you don't have to keep polishing it...

From an experts point of view.---Keoke :laugh:
 
The heater pipe on my 61 sideshifter BT7 tri-carb was tired original factory Healey engine green when I purchased the car. Upon rebuilding the engine I stripped it to bare copper. I painted the engine black so any oil leaks would not be noticeable. I plan on painting these items the original green before I load the them back in the car, after I finish the Old English White paint job on the frame. My research leads me to believe that Moss, in spray cans, supplies the closest color to the original. Does anyone know where this same paint may be purchased in standard form in small quantities? --elrey
 
The heater pipe on my 61 sideshifter BT7 tri-carb was tired original factory Healey engine green when I purchased the car. Upon rebuilding the engine I stripped it to bare copper. I painted the engine black so any oil leaks would not be noticeable.

Did you paint the sidewalk underneath too!!!----Keoke-- :jester:
 
No, I made sure to park it on the asphalt! Any leads on some light green engine oil?
grin.gif
--elrey [ And yes, I'm gonna park it on the lawn smarty-pants! ] :banana:
 
:savewave:

Gonna KILL all the grass----Keoke--- :lol:
 
Guess I'll hafta be puttin put some large locks on my soon to be Astroturfed garage! :cheers: --elrey
 
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