Full Goodyear heater hoses off the shelf

For what it's worth...

I went up to the local independent auto parts store and asked to browse the radiator hose catalog. I had some rough measurements of the distances of the openings on bottom of the radiator inlet and outlet tubes to the ends of the tubes running though the spine of my RCR 40. My mission was to find an off the shelf heater hose(s) that would easily fit a 40. I came up with a Goodyear hose (Part #60710 @ $13.99 U.S.) that will work for both sides with or without a heater core. It will require splicing in a tube (aluminum/steel with bungs) for the heater hoses if you decide to go with the heater. Should save you buying four hoses if you like the look.

I don't know what other cars they will fit. However if you have a 1.5" OD tubes for both the radiator and center/spine tubes I imagine you can get them to fit. The guy in the store said I could return them if they did not work out (uncut of course! :laugh.

I have attached pics from my car to show the fit. The close up is upside down so you can see the hose number. I have set them in my car just for this post.

Howard

Okay, look before you leap. I called them heater hoses in the title. How about radiator hoses? I am awake now!

H

Good to know! I think these might fit in my car as well, thanks so much.

GREAT find Howard!!!!!

Hi All

IMHO A word of warning regarding radiator hoses of this shape and length.

The longer the hose the more expansion it will have and so the greater the need for a larger overflow tank.

Also because of the shape it will have a greater propensity for trying to straighten itself out under pressure and pulling off the tube ends it is fitted to.

You would be far better off to make the bent sections in solid tube and just use short straight sections of hose to join the solid tubes together.

In my car I used pre bent sections of stainless tube cut and welded to shape and then connected to the engine and radiator with the shortest straight hose I could get away with but which still will allow a small amount of flex.

This makes replacement on the road easy as any straight hose can be cut to length and no need for locating a specific shaped hose.

If you look at the photo you can see the short hose sections joining the solid pipes both at the radiator and where the tubes come out of the front bulkhead.
Each hose section in the front is only 80mm long.

Dimi

Dimi - I tend to be of the school that expansion is a matter of total volume and not related to the material of the system's components (rubber vs metal). Also - it's true that the longer the pre-molded hose is, the greater the propensity to change shape. But. I think I would be more concerned with the hose collapsing while the system is pulling a vacuum (cooling and drawing in from the reservoir). There would also be a potential concern of the draw side of the hose (the one conducting coolant to the water pump) collapsing. The potential for collapse can be controlled by using an internal "spring" to help the hose maintain it's shape. Many such hoses come with them.

If you ever saw the radiator hoses for a 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, it would blow your mind. They were easily 3 feet long!

Hi Randy

One of the problems I have found with long rubber hoses is that they tend to soften with heat and when the pressure builds as the motor heats they expand and flex quite a lot.

The other thing is that yes they can have internal springs to prevent them collapsing but unless you pay very careful attention to maintenance the springs are usually not stainless and they tend to rust and breakup with small pieces of spring then moving through the cooling system and blocking passages.

I like usually try to think ahead of the potential problems and avoid them for the future pleasure of driving without the repair headaches.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Dimi