'70 Heater Hose Replacement Question

Willie Bifulco

Veteran Member
Apr 13, 2020
125
I decided to change all the heater hoses. Some were date stamped over 30 years ago, so I guess I got my $$$ worth. The last hose is the one in this picture on the right. THe picture was taken from the front of the car looking into the pass side of the engine bay. And as you can see, this hose goes through the firewall. In order to remove it, do I need to take the inner fender off or just far enough to get a hand in there? IS there a different/better way? TIA Willie

UPDATE...what started out as a simple (so I thought) addition of a radiator overflow tank led to yet another trip down the rabbit hole :). With a new puppy @ the house, eliminating the infrequent coolant purge on the garage floor needed to not happen any longer. So why not change all the radiator & heater hoses...and as long as I'm there, why not change the thermostat? And wouldn't it be better if I changed the hose clamps back to original-looking clamps? And since I'm going down this path, that 53-yr old heater control valve probably could use replacement along with a repaint of the thermostat housing unit. Well after about 5 trips to the local landfill with my green & rust filled gallons of questionable coolant, I decided to invest some time yesterday to change the last heater hose. Yeah, no. I must admit, I'm beaten :(. After endless trips to local auto parts stores searching for the right size overflow tank hoses, misplaced screws resulting in more trips to the local auto parts store, a failed clamp leading to a spectacular display of hot cascading green coolant just about everywhere, I'm beaten. Yep, after removing most all the inner fender screws and trying to pry the inner fender away to get anything in there, much less my arm, it just wasn't going to happen. So after about 90 minutes, I abandoned all hope (for now), a little defeated, but decided attending to that much neglected "honey do" list couldn't possibly be as hard. Well, I was wrong. But at least I still have all the hair on my arms!

Heater Hose.jpg
 
Last edited:

Twisted_Metal

Administrator
Staff member
Lifetime Gold Member
Feb 26, 2004
32,365
Bloomington, MN
Remove the wheel.
Then, remove all of the wheel well bolts except the ones under the battery and you can lower the wheel well far enough to get your hand in there to swap it out.

The end of the hose is right at the firewall and doesn’t actually go through it.

Good luck!
 

Willie Bifulco

Veteran Member
Apr 13, 2020
125
Remove the wheel.
Then, remove all of the wheel well bolts except the ones under the battery and you can lower the wheel well far enough to get your hand in there to swap it out.

The end of the hose is right at the firewall and doesn’t actually go through it.

Good luck!
OK, happy that the entire inner fender doesn't need to come out. Guess I need to stock up on some adult beverages for the weekend. :cool: Thanks...Willie
 

Bobs RPO Z/28

New Member
Mar 10, 2021
26
Wisconsin
I recently did what you have to do with your car. As mentioned above but also cut up some small 2x4's to wedge inner fendor out of the way, its a tight squeeze in there. Also I cant stress this enough be gentle with the heater core, cut the hose and peel it off the heater core nipple.
 

FS87LT

Veteran Member
Apr 3, 2010
455
DFW, TX
"Inexpensive" duct tape with weak adhesive . . . unless your forearms are hairless . . . if not, they might end up that way.
 




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