I am looking for an update on this thread to see what you are using to replace upper radiator hose on a 71 GS 350?. I tried the gates 20869 that Larry mentioned above and it interferers with the front corner of the ram air cleaner housing and does not let the aircleaner sit in the correct position for the brace or the foam pads to contact the hood correctly. I do not want to use a flexible hose and hopefully someone has found a good formed replacement hose that is both long enough and has the correct bends. I've tried reversing the hose and looking for mods to make it work but so far the only fix I can see is adding an extension to the Gates hose to allow it to be routed over the fan shroud and around the foams. Routing it under the air cleaner seems to interferer with the air cleaner and the top of the distributor cap, etc...!? Got to be more than one way to skin the cat here? meow-ouch….!!! Thanks for any help!
Here are 4 photos which may help see my problem. As you can see with the 350 engine, the ram air is much closer to the fan shroud than with a 455. I'm not sure how much of a difference this makes with this particular hose between the two powerplants but clearly there is less room to work with.
Rockauto lists some other hoses, not sure they would be any better. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...79707,cooling+system,radiator+upper+hose,2058 AC Delco hose, https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=346752&cc=1379707&jsn=405
I don't have the NOS numbers but will try and find; that in assembly or factory repair manual? I ordered the Gates hose from Rock auto after looking over all the rest. I believe the key is the length of the hose which is about 3.5 inches short to allow clearance ABOVE the shroud and around the lip of the air cleaner. I'll see if the specs on other Rock Auto Hoses offer something longer. I appreciate your ideas and thoughts. I'm sure there are other GS350 cars which will be needing this hose down the road.
I actually think the first picture you posted looks about right. There should be a plastic band that holds the hose to the top of the shroud in about that position. Maybe other GS350 guys will post their set ups.
Any hose you buy is "cut to fit" now. You may have to cut either, neither or both ends. An original 455 hose (and probably the 350 hose) had like a goose neck at the thermostat end. Nobody makes hoses like that now...nobody. but if everything is stock a hose listed as fitting your ap should fit ok after trimming. A 350 NOS hose differed from a 455 hose originally. Now I think they sell only one. Are your plug wires right angle or straight up?
I tried trimming my old hose and that helped one end but made overall length marginal so more cuts will not work. My plug wires are right angle on the distributor cap. To help clarify, I am changing from a single snorkel air cleaner to ram air. So, where my old hose would work with the original air cleaner, it interferers with the front pockets on the ram air. The Gates 20869 was almost identical to my original hose for the stock skylark 350 (non GS) set up. From the start of this thread, others with GS 350's were having trouble finding an acceptable replacement so I think we are all having the same issue here. I would really like to compare to a NOS GS hose; I think that would clear up whether I am having other issues affecting my change over. I am actively looking to find a NOS GM number to compare hose bends and overall length. Thanks again for any and all thoughts!
Jim, my assembly manual is for 72 (I have a 71) . The NOS number shown for the upper rad hose on the 72 GS is 1239644. Shape wise in the manual it looks different but hard to tell on 46 year old reprints! It would be great to see a picture of one and be able to see curves and total length; would be a big clue on the fit. Thanks again!
Guys I pretty much bought one of most hoses rock auto had at the time and most didn't work out too well. One was a ok fit after I trimmed it down but I don't run the dual snorkel air cleaner. I will check to see how it fits with the snorkel soon and get the hose number I have on it as well. I do have the original hose and none have come close but I don't run it as I had my power steering loosen up and the belt dug into the hose some but not all the way through. Reading these posts yes I think the problem with these hoses are that they don't come straight out from the motor and wrap around the snorkel so hearing they hit the snorkel doesn't surprise me.
Not sure if anyone has brought this up, but are the thermostat housing necks at different angles depending on the year engine and or depending on whether it is a GS or not? I figure they're probably the same, but just wondering
OEM Part #'s per assy. manuals & verified in '74 Parts manual: - '70: 1386848 - '71:1386849 (Same hose for 350 & 455, '74 parts book confirms this) - '72: 1239644 In another recent thread, Kleiner supplied a stamped '70 350 hose to a board member - I haven't seen anything avout the fitnent. I need a '70 & a '71, so watching here. Anyone ever looked into reproducing these? Doesn't seem like it'd be too hard from what I've read about making pre-molded hoses.
I'll have to look for my receipt, but I'm pretty sure I bought mine at a local part store. Advance Auto or O'Rileys. I had to cut the water neck side to fit. That brought the hose in away from the fan shroud. It touches the snorkel (barely) and doesn't touch the fan shroud anymore. I put the sleeve on the hose prior to cutting the water neck end because it rubbed on the fan shroud. After I cut to fit it was fine, but I just left the sleeve on there anyway. I'll try to get a better pic with the ram air on, and I'll look through my receipts for a part #.
I had a few more thoughts on this. I'm thinking it may be related to the swap somewhat. The support bracket for the breather looks a bit bent. The second thing is the snorkel cups. They are cut in different ways for clearance. It may be possible to put the cup on wrong, too...even if it's the correct side cup...I'm not sure. Looking at your pics closer, I think you may have cut the one end too much, and should have cut the therm end a bit more.
Gary, does your original ram air set up have the hose running straight out from the intake and around and above the lip of the snorkel or curved down under the cup of the ram air and over the distributor cap? That will probably dictate the overall length of the hose and where the curves need to be. I have not seen an original GS 350 engine bay picture that shows correct routing! Frank regarding the support bracket are you looking at the first picture in my series? I'll recheck but think its centered to the carb. The ram air cup is installed the only way it will mount right side up on the drivers side so not sure where I would change. If the hose is routed under the snorkel cup then I'll definitely try cutting the thermostat end more (need to confirm routing first). Dano, thanks for the NOS number for my 71 (sure different from the 72 manual), that will help if we can locate and original to compare length and bends.
Can anyone confirm there is a difference between stock and GS thermostat housing neck angle; may contribute to the problem(s) we are having??!!
I noticed on Gary's (JCLSTIKE) post (page one of this thread) a picture of what looks like a stock 70 gs 350 hose 1386848 . It looks like it is designed to hang low off the shroud and wrap around the distributor cap. The stock hose then requires a hook support off of the shroud. Clearly this is a different design from the Gates 20869 which looks to be formed to follow the top of the shroud and back to the intake like stock non GS.
