Finally getting the heater functional. What are my choices for air hose? I've got the simple heater box, non recirc heater. I'm aware of the flexible tin foil flex hose. Any other more attractive options?

 

I got new 2" round black plastic duct with spiral reinforcing from Hot Rod Air.
You can buy from them direct or from a dealer. They sell in bulk by the foot.
Nice heavy black plastic housing that does not crush easy but still bends a tight turn. Cost was about $2 a foot.

 

i got the same type hose from Mid Fifty. Right size (dia) cut length to fit. Motor Haven might have the same stuff.

abe

 

I got the hose from Sac Vintage. Black PVC over a 5/16" wide spring. Easy to cut & not too bad looking. Definitely not the OE style though, for the resto guys out there.

With that new 331 (or whatever), though, yer gonna need CHROME hose. Chrome adds 75 horsepower at least, even if it's on the inside.

If more than three guys are looking over the truck, you can add 25 hp. for each one when discussing the power of yer ride.

And if you are a really good talker, you get an extra ten hp for each musclecar or performance buzzword you can get into the sentence. For example, "Mah Effie's got a three-oh-two, punched out an' a stroker crank to 331, with Gee Tee forty heads, Holley 750 dual quads dual pump dual feed, high rise intake an' a Crane 3/4 cam, with a tranny out of a Mach 1 Boss 302 Mustang & an axle out of a 442 GTO 454 SS with 4.56's" is worth 220 horsepower over whatever it actually does. Better than nitrous and lots cheaper too.

If one of the Nitto Tire girls are standing near, THAT causes huge increases in a number of things. Including the lump on the back of your head, if your wife or significant other is observing all this.

 

Thanks guys, black plastic was kinda what I had in mind. I'll check the sources listed.

Homespun

Thanks, I wasn't aware they made racin heater hose. Me and Jet Jock will be gettin some of that.

 

try to find the adapters that attach the hose to the defroster ducts as well, the hose "screws" onto the adapter and it twistlocks onto the defroster plenum no clamps needed. Mine all came with the airconditioning system. I just reinstalled the driver's side defroster duct after reshaping it so I could reverse mount it. Now the hose connection faces the passenger side of the truck to make the hose routing easier and the airflow stronger. If you don't have a 56 that isn't an issue.

 

How did you reshape the defroster thingy that goes up to the windshield, cut and reweld? If I remember right I got some of the plain old black uct with wire from NAPA years ago. Thanks Art

 

This is the piece under the dash like a flattened funnel. It is curved like the windshield, so I recurved it in the opposite direction to match the slot in the dash. With my new hanging pedals, hanging emergency brake pedal and fuse block under there It didn't make sense to have to bring the hose over and turn it back on itself before connecting it to the duct. It now connects to the right of the steering column in a nearly straight shot. Should help the defroster work better as well.

 

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll have to try that. The recurving sounds fun. I also have hanging petals , brake, wiring, and cruise control hanging under there, so I'm going to try it. The hose has at times fallen off, and it takes intestinal fortitude to venture up under there. Art

 

fatfenders- I bought some plastic hose that looks very similar vent hose or the hose that connects to a swimming pool vacuum (if that makes sense) at Wal Mart. I found it in the section for mobile home/ RV accessories (the automotive section). It comes in a box and it's like a 10' roll for about $5.00. I believe it's used to connect to the sewer line or something? I tried it out and the stuff works nice. I put a clamp around the ends both on the window vents and on the heater unit. They bend nicely also with kinking, very flexible. They aren't black, they come in a grayish blue color, don't know if that's a problem. Next time your at Wal Mart check them out.

 

I used a spoon dolly to push out the originally concaved side, then hammered in the formerly convex side. the added on rim piece cracked at one end and had to be rewelded. It's a fairly shallow curve, but don't do like I did, make a template of the curve first saves a lot of test fitting.

 

chuck is right on, I have done this but I cut a couple of slits into the outer rim, made it easier to bend and couple of spot welds finished it up. go for it.