Freelander steel water pipes.

hi.
my 1999 2.0l rover diesel freelander has just lost all its coolant!! (what a suprise!!). I have found two small holes in the steel water pipes that run over the gearbox. Does anyone know if you can buy these as a pattern part, or is it down to the main stealer for a ridiculous quote!!
i also thought of repalcing them with copper... has anyone done this before and succeeded (or failed)?
thanks
chris

Not done it but copper should work alright and it can be easily bent to shape. If rubber pipes push over them you might have to flare the ends to stop them sliding off.

i've done it, main dealer part only, about £160 almost 2 years ago. Easy to do just a very tight squeeze getting them in and out, they go right around the engine. Remember to remove the heat shield, i broke mine.

Also happened to myself, I just replaced the damaged section with rubber pipe but it is something that will need doing longer term.

I have 2 plans Aluminium / copper or go to a scrapy.

People often say its a bad idea to use copper on a car with an aluminium radiator but I think the time it takes to cause damage will out last my car anyway!

well thanks for the advice guys. i went ahead and made them out of copper. all seems to be working fine so far. ill keep you posted of any problems but at least i wont be suffering from rusty pipes again!!

also to make it easier to make and fit the new pipes i removed the inlet and exhaust manifold( with turbo attached). this made bending and checking the pipes much easier!!

Just seen this. Copper is not the best choice with aluminium blocks / heads or radiators, due to electrolytic corrosion. I did note your comment above tho.