Leaving the coolant lines "open"?

Don't worry, it's not as drastic as the thread title makes it out to be. :whistle:

When I take my underfloor pipes off to replace them for stainless steel I'd like to take the opportunity to paint under there entirely with underbody seal. Everywhere. Obviously though this takes time to dry and thus the connecting coolant hoses will be left with nothing attached for an extended period of time before the new pipes go on.

My question is this; is it safe to do so? Will the minute amount of coolant left in the system simply dribble out and/or evaporate or will it dry out and leave a sticky mess that I'd have to flush? If it'll leave a sticky mess I'll just spray waxoil before fitting the new pipes, but I'd rather do the job properly with seal. :yesnod:

MikeKnight;14646 wrote: Don't worry, it's not as drastic as the thread title makes it out to be. :whistle:

When I take my underfloor pipes off to replace them for stainless steel I'd like to take the opportunity to paint under there entirely with underbody seal. Everywhere. Obviously though this takes time to dry and thus the connecting coolant hoses will be left with nothing attached for an extended period of time before the new pipes go on.

My question is this; is it safe to do so? Will the minute amount of coolant left in the system simply dribble out and/or evaporate or will it dry out and leave a sticky mess that I'd have to flush? If it'll leave a sticky mess I'll just spray waxoil before fitting the new pipes, but I'd rather do the job properly with seal. :yesnod:

I shouldn't think there'd be a problem, but you could flush the system with water, or alternatively, block the pipes temporarily with rags or something.

Oh durrr.. blocking them off.. of course! *slaps forehead*

I think they'd only be open for a max of 3 days, though I've never done underbody seal before so no idea how long it usually takes. 1 coat a day I expect.

i would coat the underside of the body with a spray on stonechip coating, and unless you have a Schutz gun (Underseal spray gun) you can buy it in aerosol cans in any good motor factors or good old halfords, it dries very quickly and can be painted over with any body paint or Hammerite (spray) its what they use on most cars on the lower part of the cills, has a pimply orange peel effect. an alternate is to slap on a couple of good thick coats of brushing Hammerite and leave it at that.