Choke Tube Insulation-Updated

[Riviera63]

The first summer I had my car on 2014 I replaced the choke stove pipe. The pipe insulation was bad so I replaced it as well. The only color available to me at that time was black. This year I decided to replace it with a more original type white insulation from CARS. It is cut to whatever length you want from a bulk roll. The problem I ran into is both ends unravel quite easily and there does not seem to be any way to stop it. What I ended up doing is wrapping wire around each end to keep it in place and unraveling. I'm not too crazy about that solution. Has anyone run into this problem and if so what did you do to secure the ends to keep them from unraveling? What was done on the original insulation? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Bill

 

Edited July 1, 2017 by Riviera63
New information (see edit history)

[NC1968Riviera]

Maybe you could try an old trick we had in the army, depending on the type of material the insulation is made from. You can hold the frayed ends of the insulation tube "close" to an open flame, (lighter or candle), without actually touching the flame. If the material is synthetic, the frayed ends will start to melt upon itself. You can remove the material from near the flame once you have the right amount of fray bonding and blow to cool. Don't touch the melted end with your finger! You may want to insert something non-flammable in the tube end to keep it from melting together and closing itself off.

Be sure not to actually touch the flame with the material, otherwise, you could catch the fabric on fire.

 

I recommend doing this away from all flammable objects and surfaces (in the middle of a concrete floor may be appropriate).

[Riviera63]

44 minutes ago, NCCaprice said:

Maybe you could try an old trick we had in the army, depending on the type of material the insulation is made from. You can hold the frayed ends of the insulation tube "close" to an open flame, (lighter or candle), without actually touching the flame. If the material is synthetic, the frayed ends will start to melt upon itself. You can remove the material from near the flame once you have the right amount of fray bonding and blow to cool. Don't touch the melted end with your finger! You may want to insert something non-flammable in the tube end to keep it from melting together and closing itself off.

Be sure not to actually touch the flame with the material, otherwise, you could catch the fabric on fire.

 

I recommend doing this away from all flammable objects and surfaces (in the middle of a concrete floor may be appropriate).

 

That is the first thing I thought of and tried. It is heat resistant material and does not take to flame like a nylon rope would for example. Thanks for the effort and welcome to the forum. Good luck finding a Riv. I am a relatively new Riv person after being a die-hard Pontiac guy for many years. i love my 1963 Riviera.

 

Bill

[JZRIV]

The original was much better than the repro stuff. It held together at ends. I'd probably try fiberglass cloth tape. Its off white: example:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#fiberglass-cloth-insulating-tape/=17tu5pv

[Chasander]

I was also disappointed with "CARS" insulation. I ended up cleaning original, not perfect but better then the stuff I bought. 

[JZRIV]

3 minutes ago, Chasander said:

I was also disappointed with "CARS" insulation. I ended up cleaning original, not perfect but better then the stuff I bought. 

LOL - yea I ended up spot painting my original to try and brighten it a bit but if you have none - CARS stuff is wonderful! Besides looks, it is functional.

[RIVNIK]

I would think a small shot of 3M heat resistant adhesive spray adhesive right after a fresh cut might stop the ends from unraveling. You could also try spraying a small puddle into a container and dip the ends. Then pinch the threads together with a tweezer or similar tool. (I tried this on braided nylon rope when I couldn't find a Bic.worked like a charm)  I would also consider a fine mist of adhesive on the entire length of braid to tame the fuzzies. Im absolutely confidant that this will work, because all my ideas are brilliant....haha.

[Riviera63]

1 hour ago, JZRIV said:

LOL - yea I ended up spot painting my original to try and brighten it a bit but if you have none - CARS stuff is wonderful! Besides looks, it is functional.

 

Jason,

 

Thanks for the fiberglass cloth tip. I think that would do it. What did the original look like? Mine was pretty much toast and I really did not pay attention to what it looked like when I removed it. Does the CARS insulation look the same? The black replacement that I put on was great stuff, did not unravel at the ends, it was just the wrong color. I may explore painting it as well. What type/color paint did you use? Thanks.

 

Bill

[telriv]

Many Corvette restoration places have the CORRECT choke tube insulation.

[RivNut]

If you look at pictures of choke sleeves (insulators, looms) on Google images, you can see that each one pictured has had the ends dipped in something to prevent them from fraying.

[Riviera63]

2 hours ago, telriv said:

Many Corvette restoration places have the CORRECT choke tube insulation.

 

Any idea of the terminology that they use or what you looked under to find? I looked on several sites using different words, sets of words and came up empty. Thanks.

 

Bill

[RivNut]

Google "Choke tube insulator."  Click on the IMAGES tab.  When you see one you like, click on it and you'll be taken to the website.

[Riviera63]

I did find what I needed on Eckler's Corvette website. Thanks Tom. Choke tube insulation part number 25-114228-1. $11.99 for an 18" length. Did the original insulation cover the whole tube or was it a partial covering? I would need about 24" to cover tube completely. If it was not complete coverage this would work great. After seeing it on their website I do recall that this is what my original looked like. The CARS version is not even close to the same. Oh well, not the first money wasted on buying an incorrect item. Glad to have found the right stuff.

 

Bill

[telriv]

It's hard to remember EXACTLY Bill, but I believe it was short on the bottom by 6"-8". You must remember that it was to stop people from getting burned by the hot air choke tube when you were working on the engine.The last 6" or so someone was not as likely to come in contact with the pipe.

 

 

Tom T.

[Riviera63]

6 minutes ago, telriv said:

It's hard to remember EXACTLY Bill, but I believe it was short on the bottom by 6"-8". You must remember that it was to stop people from getting burned by the hot air choke tube when you were working on the engine.The last 6" or so someone was not as likely to come in contact with the pipe.

 

 

Tom T.

 

Tom,

 

Thanks for that. That makes sense and that is what i needed to know.

 

Bill

[Riviera63]

Hi,

 

Just an update to the choke tube insulation topic. A while back I got in touch with Glenn Cecchine at CARS, Inc. to let him know that I had been very disappointed with the choke tube insulation that I had purchased from them. The reasons being the unraveling issue and the product they sent did not resemble the OEM insulation nor what was pictured in their online catalog. He stepped up to the plate and is going to refund my money in full. I also alerted him to the fact that the various Corvette vendors were marketing OEM style choke tube insulation. I just got an e-mail from him this morning stating that they have been in contact with the manufacturer and hope to incorporate this product into their offerings.

 

I have attached a picture of the product you can get from the various Corvette vendors.

 

Bill