Hi, I am on the hunt for a couple of hard to get items - two or three power steering pipe clips that are located on the two lugs that are sitting under the radiator. Unfortunately, mine have broken, and they are no longer available.

They would probably need to come of a P38 which is being taken apart, and with this in mind I have contacted a couple of breakers but so far no-one has replied to me at all. I am sure that there has to be some, somewhere but the big breakers don't seem to be interested.

I wonder whether anyone on the forum here might have a couple that I could buy ?

Pierre3.

They look like a good candidate for 3D printing if anyone can draw them up?

Can't help with clip supply but have you thought about thinking outside the box?
For example, lots of various type clips are available for plumbing pipes. What diameter are the PS pipes? I'd wager they are metric and a common size in the plumbing world.
On my Defender they were 10mm iirc so I used a 10mm pipe clip with a bit of steel to extend it slightly to use the original chassis captive thread.

I'm with Morat on this - I have got in touch with a guy who does 3D printing. I have sent him the pictures and an approximation of the pipe sizes, so I hope that he will be able to make up the missing curved sections.

The problem with trying to use parts from elsewhere, as I have found to my own cost before, is that, unless you are very lucky, the parts won't do the job properly. I am quite particular in trying to replace lost or broken parts with original parts. In this case you couldn't really use something else because the two halves are different diameters, one is about 15mm and the other half is about 10-12mm and the whole thing needs to sit squarely on the lug under the radiator.

I will start to ring some of the bigger breakers on Monday, rather than relying on the internet, at least the guys can be pushed into a definitive answer - yes or no. There is a guy in West Wales, quite well known for breaking P38's so I am sure that he must have 3 or 4 of the clips. He has about 20 P38's in his yard. I am just surprised that it is so hard to get a couple of them, them must be like gold dust !

Pierre3.

I like originality too. Have you tried the guy down south, James coleman iirc. Find him on Facebook p38 uk. He has a good rep I believe.

I don't think I have ever seen a P38 where those clips are still in one piece. The ends break off so there is just the centre part left. So getting them 3d printed might be a good idea as I doubt any breakers will have any that are still good (or they won't be once the pipes are unclipped from them). I know the purists will be horrified but mine are just held in place with a couple of tie wraps.

Richard, I agree with you there, I had two tie wraps holding them against the old clip bases !

It would be very handy if I can get them 3D printed, but that also depends on the cost, as well. I will post the results here !

Pierre3.

Not sure what sizes/dimensions your working with, but I've used the P clips that LPG pipework is usually held with in that situation before. They don't last forever, but are metal with rubber covering and can be bolted or screwed into place. They are also available in many sizes which helps.

As you say not original, but at least its a bit thats hidden underneath in most circumstances.

I slit a piece of heater hose, slipped it over each pipe to provide abrasion resistance, and re-mounted them to the lugs with zip ties.

Marshall8hp, I agree that using rubber hose is a good workaround. I will see what the 3D printer guy says first, and then go to using some rubber hose and tie-wraps, while using the old clip bases to provide the distancing.

When I was replacing my radiator I saw my clips were broken so I used 2 x 10mm Talon double hinged copper pipe clips. Fitted perfectly.