That became an issue on the coolant side when I changed the white "nylon/plastic" T piece for the aluminium version. On my Plus 4, being only eight years old...(where did that go?), the three coolant pipes came off easily. I break the seal by sliding a fine screwdriver into the gap, then a squirt of WD40.
But my Roadster, being now pushing 20 years old ............(and where did that go?), was much less easy. Two coolant pipes eventually slid off. The third was bonded under the pressure from the Jubilee clip. It eventually released, leaving large fragments of rubber attached to the T Piece. A finger inside the hose confirmed that the damage was only around the Jubilee clip and there is enough slack on that hose (which goes to the oil filter heat exchanger) to remove about 3/4". To prevent debris dropping into the end of the hose, my approach is to insert a socket, then using a stanley knife very carefully, having masked the line on which to cut, the end of the hose can be slowly cut, leaving a perfect end, and reconnected.
The cut section of hose then pulls out as the socket is removed.
Coolant loss is minimal, and this is also a job worth doing.
