My A/C has been removed. Can I use the heater hoses for a non A/C car?

[chrisp]

I am not very close to the minor details that separate the heater hose specs of an A/C car versus a non A/C car. My A/C has been removed and perhaps I should switch out to the bigger hose and forget the reducer.

Is it all 2.5 inch I.D. for the non A/C cars?

[jdowty3]

The actual diameter is 60mm which is about 2.33 inch so the 2.5 inch will be just a little big. The AC cars only used 50mm (2 inch) so it would pass under the compressor mount. If you remove the reducer at the fan, the 60mm can be used all the way to the heat exchanger on the right side just like it is on the left side.

[chrisp]

Thanks Jim.

I see on PP that the a/c cars use a shorter hose as well. Is there a reducer below where the a/c was and I run 50mm to that and 60mm from there to H.E.? Does the reducer come out and I run 60mm from the fresh air fan to H.E.? Is my fan going to accept the 60mm stuff?

[jdowty3]

There is a reducer that goes from 50mm on the top to 60mm on the H.E. side of the engine tin. The regular hose may not hold up if you just run it through the hole down to the H.E. but that's the way it looks for the non-AC cars. I am in the process of getting some of the hi-temp neoprene aircraft style hose to replace the paper covered aluminum stuff.

[chrisp]

So what diameter hoses are you buying and by how many feet to change out all of the hoses?

Doesn't the left side (driver side) go right from the blower into the HE?

[jdowty3]

I am getting 2 inch and 2.5 inch . Again, the 2.5 may be a little big but the hose is pliable and better a little big than too small. The shortest length you can buy is 10 ft in each size. Some of the Dallas pelican guys have already asked about getting some of my extra hose. I don't know the exact lengths but the old pieces of aluminum hose I removed from my 83SC are :
left side from fan to tin hole = 18 inches
rightside from fan to tin hole = 48 inches
These are approximate and the hose is only minimally expanded to make the required bends. Add some at the end of each hose to get all the way to the heat exchanger.

[chrisp]

There is some SCAT and CAT available by the foot. I am thinking of 4 feet of 2.25" CAT for the two cold hoses (blower to HE R&L)and 2 feet of 2.25" SCAT for the hot hoses (HE to chassis, R&L)

total cost is $25.

Will the 2.25" (57mm) work (including the HE to chassis) you think?

Sorry for all of the questions but I would hate to have this stuff shipped in and not have it fit.

[jdowty3]

I don't know about the 2.25. I wondered that myself but decided to get the 2.5 . I'd guess the total length of the CAT to be 5.5 to 6 ft. It's about 4 ft just for the right side. The hose shown on PP is the compressed length and expands to almost triple. The CAT and SCAT hose reinforced with the wire helix but not compressed like the aluminum hose.