Sometimes radiator hoses can be a pain in the butt, especially when you are doing an engine swap. It is getting harder and harder to find some of the older radiator hoses, even for stock applications, and the universal hoses kind of suck to look at. But fabricating your own radiator hoses from pieces of molded rubber hose and stainless tubing can be easy and simple if you just take your time. If you want the ultimate, then using stainless tubing and molded silicon hoses can be a really trick but simple way to go.
In this video, our friend Jefferson shows you just how to do them, and even gets trick with some lathe work to make the hose clamps fit even nicer. We dig it, and you will too.
Video Description:
We are working on our 1974 El Camino project, and we need some new radiator hoses. Instead of the same old boring molded rubber hoses, we opted to make new ones with some silicone elbows and aluminum pipe. The pipe gets turned down in the lathe to create a recess for the hose clamp to bite into. This makes the engine look good and it is very durable. This is perfect for engine swaps where finding the right shape of molded hose is impossible.
We also install a @Chevrolet Performance front accessory drive to the SBC in the El Camino. Jefferson shows you a few cool tricks while he is at it too.