Any Good Options for Upper Radiator Hose, After A/C Delete and No Radiator Fan

[vdubn]

I have been looking hi and low, and can't seem to find any good information on what I am looking to do. I can find some pics of folks that have done this, but it looks like maybe with a Vortech chrome upper tube, but not sure.

I have eliminated A/C from my car, and also the mechanical cooling fan and the bulky fan shroud, so I was looking for an upper radiator hose that didn't look like a crazy straw connecting my T-stat housing to my radiator.

Does anyone have any idea of a hose that just shoots over to the upper corner of the radiator in a direct path?

Thanks!

[erratic50]

Hmms. Sounds like the hoses used on the 1974 Galaxie and a few others of that period.

[mrriggs]

The upper hose from a 1980 Fairmont (255) doesn't have all the right angle bends. You'll also need a thermostat housing with a neck that comes out at an angle to replace the straight-up housing that goes with the Super-Wacky-Bendy-Hose.

[mrriggs]

Hmms. Sounds like the hoses used on the 1974 Galaxie and a few others of that period.

From what I can tell, the upper hose on the earlier Fords (Ranchero,Torino, etc.) is the same shape as the Fairmont hose but the radiator had a larger neck than the Fox body cars.

[erratic50]

I believe you are correct. I guess I made the assumption the change was in interest of flow. those with big radiators have an appreciation for those bigger lines....

[vdubn]

I will be running a CSR Thermostat housing, so I can swivel towards the radiator, but finding a hose that is 1.25" on each end may be tough. I looked some more tonight, and the Vortex upper hose kit may work. I'm not a fan of the metal center section, but it may clean things up.

[vdubn]

Ok, so I found an option. I had been looking at the Vortech upper metal hose, where you use the stock Upper radiator hose and cut each end off to get connected to the thermostat housing and radiator. Well, everywhere I looked I found the pipe for around $75 to $90, but recently on corral.net I found a guy selling an aluminum version for less than $40 shipped. I grabbed one and proceeded to cut up my stock upper hose, only to find out that the stock hose is 1.25" diameter, and the pipe is 1.5". The expectation is to stretch the stock hose over the tube, which works fine on the end by the thermostat, however, at the tight elbow closest to the radiator, its really difficult to do that and not make it look totally janky. So, I found the Napa hose number 7382, which is 1.5", and fits the tube perfectly, then I took a 1/2" long section of the stock upper radiator hose, and slipped it inside of the Napa hose, and it fit perfectly inside, and also around the radiator inlet. So, I basically made a rubber bushing to reduce the size going into the radiator.

It ended up looking a lot better, even though the other way would actually work. Lots of room for the belt, and the tensioner rod for adjusting the tension on the belt.