im looking to get some stainless steel hoses for my radiator, maybe heater core houses, and eventually fuel lines... ive reaserched different places but i dont exactly get how the size fittings work, or where the best place to purchase them is, so i was just wondering if someone could at least let me know where they purchased any stainless steel radiator hose they have, i know its 1 and 1/2 just dunno the fitting sizes, thanks for the help

 

go to summit racing they have all the sizes broken down , simply measure you radiator hose and when you go to the website put -----size an fitting

and thats it


just curious is this a all out race car, and do you have the adapter for the water pump to run an lines

 

For the heater and radiator, go with the samco silicone hoses. The cars with stainless steel looking radiator hoses slip a cover over the factory hoses for the look. Unlesss your really going ot go through some custom job of putting fittings at the ends of your heater core and radiator. The way the heater hoses bend, its going to be a pain to get real steel braided stuff to work without spending tons of money. Our cooling systems are still just 15psi around there, maybe a lil more.

Factory fuel lines use a clamp also for connections, if you want to run some nice fittings and steel braided hoses, its going to cost you. Unless you just want to show your car, you could have those fake looking fitting ends, but its actually a clamp underneath. I personally would not do that, but its up to you

 

I had a friend who used muscle car braided line for his radiator and it was so rigid the top radiator pipe broke off. It WAS an aftermarket radiator, but it still broke.

SAMCO FTW...just pissed they don't make an FB specific set. I wonder if the 2nd gen ones will work?

 

or you can do what I did and use Stainless steel chrome bendable pipe that you normally see on rods. Looks very nice

 

Can't see that metal hose working on his car, '89s have that plastic thermo housing.

It does look nice though!!

 

Mine is a 90 model and also has the plastic thermostat housing so why won't it work?

 

IMO, that metal slinky **** looks nasty.

All it is is a flex section that you use a pair of (rubber?) couplers on each end.
There are band clamps involved - you can see some of the peeking out from underneath.
The metal end caps covers all of that crap.


-Ted

 

sorry to hijack- hey GTxr- hows that dual fan set up work with the AC and FMIC?
what kind of temps you see on the highway?

to the original poster- stainless and AN lines get EXPENSIVE, if you want the look get the sleeves with the covers for the clamps.
if your motor is stock dont waste the money on the AN and stainless stuff, I did my motor and it costs alot more then you might think.

 

Yeup

 

 

the rest of that engine bay MORE then makes up for the hose, lets see some of your engine bay pics!

 

Sorry, i thought that the plastic wouldn't be able to handle the strain from the metal hose. But if it works, great, i like the way it looks.

 

The solution: Get Pi-Thon hose locks... but those are only for real balla's

 

I installed those fans when the engine was stock and on the stock radiator, before I would be hovering around 95C driving on a 35C day (about 105F), I got no higher than 88C giving it heaps after the conversion.

I am now putting out 402rwkw on the new motor, the radiator pictured is a 4 pass 56mm core. I am not sure what I will get now on a 35C day as I have moved to a cold southern state. My Microtech now tells me that WT is 85C.

Mate, I don't really care what you think, it is my solution to how I wanted my engine to look, show me your solution that looks better. Having clamps showing isn't really my ideal solution either but Pi-thon clamps are for securing rubber hose not stainless. If I ever come across a better solution I will get it but this suits my needs at the moment and will not kink.

At this stage it holds ok, but I am upgrading to the GURU motorsport neck so that I can polish it. There isn't a lot of movement in the engine anyway as I am using Noltec Race engine Mounts, but I think it prudent to get rid of the factory plastic which has a tendency to bleed anyway.

cheers

 

Here's the problem...
I really don't give a **** how it looks.
I'm more of a function-over-form type of person...
I use generic corrugated flex hoses for my radiator hoses - it works and does the job without leaking.
That slinky crap adds more chances of leaking, since you've now doubled the amount of clamps and chances to leak on each end.

If you got the money, just AN stainless the whole thing.
Isn't that what the OP was asking about anyways?
You're not even the OP, and you seem to think you can just take over this thread...


-Ted

 

Ted, I also previously used the generic corrugated stuff. How does it lead to more chances of failure, have you used it? I presented the original poster with an option that you don't care for, so what; Obviously you are a qualified mechanic with years of racing experience behind you so I apologise to you that I have upset you by installing a hose that is crap. It is only an option that the original poster could consider, I am not forcing him to go out and buy it, its all about free choice and what best suits his needs, my needs and your needs.

I have simply answered questions that have been presented as I am doing here. For your info, all the hoses that have been replaced in the engine bay are braided AN without hose clamps, the angle of my bottom radiator pipe will not allow for the AN fittings and would kink a braided or generic flexi hose.

cheers

Mark

 

you can still take pride and dress things up in your engine compartment and maintain function

 

Just cut the foreplay and hard pipe the sucker.

 

noessssssssssssssss you has red x's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

for now im just looking for the radiator hose AN fittings size because i have to replace my heater core hose and drain my coolant anyways so i figured now would be a good time to do it, do you have the fitting size for it?

and also does anyone know if you can paint stainless steel? im seen some of the braided lines that are black and i think they look really nice over the chrome, i was just curious if i got a chrome one if i could paint it black

 

I did not do anything but the fuel system.
Its easy to blow through $500-$700 in lines and fittings just under the hood for the fuel system, but I bet cooling would still run in the $400 range- thats if you could get them to make the bends required

 

alright so i found out that a -24 an is the size im looking for, and they make the fittings with screws to tighten them around any piece, now i just need to find one and preferably black

 

I'm curious is your radiator an off the shelf or is it a ground up custom? I'm in the market for a new radiator and I'm looking at all the options available. If it is a custom how much did you pay for it? If it's an off the shelf, what car is it originally intended for? Also, what kind of flow is it (cross flow or down flow--Looks like a cross flow)?

 

I love the samco hoses a lot for our cars, but that ss hose don't look so bad either.