Watercooled guys! how do i hold up the radiator hose?, in the grooves under the car Options

[stewteral]

so i purchased the heater hose from renegade, its no longer the gates green stripe with the helical wire, they are now using NAPA yellow stripe hose, with polyester reinforcement fyi to those who are thinking about it. i got two lengths of 1 1/4"

anyways i am about to mount the hosing however i am unsure of how to hold it underneath the car, do you guys use self tapping screws? or a bolt/nut combo? rivets? weld on the straps? im uncertain on whats the best option.

Hey Vox,

Before I did my V8 conversion, I drove a car with metal water pipes running under the car. As I drove slowly out of the parking lot, the pipes dragged for abou 2 ft! Right there I understood that running RUBBER or metal pipes UNDER the car was a disaster waiting to happen.

On my car, I ran 1-1/4" copper tubing THROUGH the middle of the shift tunnel. With a 45 deg. bend up and another back over, I found that there was plenty of room to plumb to the front trunk Under the fuel tank. I sweat the copper pipe pieces together and it has worked flawlessly for 9 years, even with my 400 lb rear springs on the track!.

The only caveat is that I had to cut the top of the shift tunnel open to get access.
I slid PVC tubing around the outside of the copper runs for wear protection and then closed the tunnel with aluminum sheet, pop-riveted in place.

If you're interested, I have photos of how I did it.

OK, so that's more than you want to do.....then the next best answer is to run the tubes under the rocker panels where they won't get crunched or torn out!
The rubber hose is easy, but will last for a limited time. I would go with a metal tube with access at each end to attach and replace the hose connections when the get old. Thin wall steel tubing would work: paint the outside and the antifreeze should keep it from rusting on the inside.

Another choice would be copper tubing which would allow you to sweat bends on
to fit your application better.

Best,
Terry

This is what I was thinking. Do you have pics you can share Terry?

Hey Pete,

Photos, part deux:

[Mike Bellis]

Adel Clamps are cheap. $11 for 25 pack.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#adel-clamps/=d9kcrr

[Joedubs]

terry,
Have you noticed any unwanted heat in the cabin, having those copper lines running pretty darn close to your legs and rear section (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bootyshake.gif)

I've been leaning towards a setup like this for my coolant runs, and that was my only concern.

[913B]

Maybe my friend will chime in. He had it in the center tunnel and it was hot. I guess it would been nice during the winter with the bonus of a heater. But in the summer, man, it became unbearable. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) My vote is the rubber lines under the car.

[Mike Bellis]

I had hoses in the center tunnel of my last 914 V8. I hated it during the summer. I like the fact that it was out of harms way but it transfered way too much heat inside.

[strawman]

I just posted a picture of my underbody rubber hose setup. See post #204 in Suby-Engined Rustoration. I sqeezed the hoses above the front aluminum suspension crossbar and below the steering rack. You can see where the hoses enter the frunk in the same post. Mine isn't running yet, so I'd rely more on the words of others who have been running this same setup...