Has anyone on here replaced their heater core lines with SS hose and AN fittings? I was thinking about doing this as I want to replace the bulk of my rubber hoses to prevent possible failure in the future. My main concern would be how to attach the hoses to the actual heater core. Could a fitting be soldiered on similar to house plumbing?

 

i put SS lines on mine but just hose clamped them looks alot better and way better protection.

 

IMO, I would stick with using heater hose, but just cover them with fire sleeves.

 

+1

On my 500R setup I used some thick reinforced blue silicone hose (suitable for coolant) from www.ATPturbo.com, and covered them with heat sleeving......go to www.summitracing.com and lookup DEI fire sleeves and thermotec sleeving.

 

+almost 9,000

 

Thanks for the input guys. Any reason you prefer using heater hose besides cost? Just curious... Looks like that's what I will be doing.

 

I think this is one of those if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it things. These hoses are cheap and will probably last the life of the engine. Just replace them when replacing the engine.

 

Main reason:

The connections aren't designed for SS lines. To do it right, you'll have to do something similar to what needs to be done for the fuel lines:

http://www.anplumbing.com/TUBING_ADAPTERS.html

IMO, that's going to be a lot of work for no real benefit. If your goal is just to keep them safe from heat, that's what fire sleeves are for... If you just want to do it for show, well, at least do it right like the above video.

 

In my specific case, with my single turbo setup I couldnt use the factory molded heater hoses so initially used some straight lengths of heater hose from napa.....it was the 'proper' rated hose type but the heat of the single turbo (even with the ceramic coating--proximity to the turbine housing) really did a number on it after a year of use. The blue reinforced hose on ATPturbo that I referenced above is pretty much bulletproof and gave me piece of mind, and after over one year of use looks as good as new (i also did install heat sleeving over it).

 

I think I will go the silicone hose route. I guess if the hoses on the car lasted this long, new ones should be fine. Plus it will save me a few hundred on fittings and hose. However, after nitriding the irons I needed to do something with the hose connection so I tapped it for 1/2 pipe and installed an earls 1/2npt to 5/8 adapter. That way in the future if I decide to try the an hose I am ready. I also ordered those tubing adaptors in the video for my fuel lines. I have used them on a previous car and they worked well.