Thread: hose headache

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I am having trouble finding a hose for my 64 C 10 project.

The Summit aluminum radiator has the lower hose nipple angled towards the top of the radiator. Obviously they expected this to accomodate a 'typical' installation in a car where the lower radiator nipple was below the water pump nipple. Well, the radiator is sitting as low as it can go, the frame stops it from sitting any lower.

Spent about 20 minutes in the local Auto Zone trying to match up a formed hose to the one which I was running with the last radiator. That hose is almost right.. just far enough off that it kinks in the present application.

Anyway, I've tried a flex hose, and it could 'work' but it is too tight and kinking. I am thinking my solution is nothing more elegant than to take a couple of formed hoses, and a piece of pipe nipple, and cut the two hoses and connect them together to make a go of it. Really don't want to modify the radiator ( which would probably be the right solution ).

Anyone got any .02 to throw in?

thanks

I had the very same problem as my sb was sitting very low and I couldn't find a hose that would work w/o kinking. I found a length of vacuum hose that was used in the car wash business at the vacuum stations and was rated at 250 degrees and was flexable enough to use w/0 kinking. So far after 6 years no problems. Try you local car washes and see if they have any of this hose. I think it was made for high temperature applications but can't rember the name.

What we do is take a rigid wire like a tig wire or coathanger and form the shape we need and head to the auto parts store. Our local one lets us dig through all the ones on their wall until we find a match. We measure the radiator and engine nipples and match those to the new hose we buy. We usually have to cut a little off to make a perfect fit, but it works.

When I swapped the 5.0 into my Jeep truck I had a real tough hose to match up, it goes on a crazy angle. But by doing the method I described I found one that worked perfectly.

Don

Always keep a few feet of "snorkel tube" ( that silver colored flexible crap that connects a thermactor to the exhaust manifold) for shaping hoses. Bend as recquired, mark which end is which and off to NAPA you go. Couple of these pieces have been on my shelves for years, works for ANY hose or pipe.

I used cool flex .............

kitz