Hard heater hoses from Camaro

[GRRR8GT]

Best of luck with the shoulder jcmGT. I'm sure it will go well.

On another note I can't believe how good your mail system is down south. I could not get a parcel to someone in Edmonton (10 miles away) by Monday. An for me it is mostly cosmetic. I don't want the hoses laying on top of my blower so I'm getting them out of the way first. And I will take a few pictures during and after.

[Chewy]

I bought the ones Charlie made 4 years ago and they've been terrific!

[GRRR8GT]

Well the hose kit came Friday so I put it in over the weekend. Wish I could say that its a perfect fit but it is not. It will go in and looks like it will not rub on anything but ....Although the engine bays by eye look the same we could have used a somewhat different bend in the hard pipes for a better fit. There is another issue that you need to make an adjustment for but you'll see that as we go along. Start by draining down the rad. Either save it or its a good time for a partial flush. Drain plug is on passenger side of the rad accessible from under the car without removing anything. It's plastic and seals with an "o" ring so it was not too tight.

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Move the spring clamps back an inch so they are off the water pump nipples.

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Do the same thing on the heater core nipples. I got mine off without cutting by pushing them forward and then working them off with a side to side motion. Do not just pull because the heater core nipples feel like they will just pull right out which may lead to a leak.

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Once you have loosened but not removed the hoses get a container down under the water pump to catch the gush. I used a rectangular funnel with a hose on it draped into my rad catch basin. Forgot to take a picture of this step. Also place a rag under the heater core connections and a third hand is handy to keep the pump ends in the funnel while you pull off the heater core ends. Small amount of glycol drips out of here but a good quart comes out of the water pump hose ends and the housing. It will make a mess if you can't catch most of it. I only lost a couple ounces.

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Now that you have the hoses off you will see compared to the "Camaro" hose kit that the heater core sizes are different. On our G8's the larger size heater hose ends at the quick connect. On the Camaro it continues to the heater core. To make this work you need an inch of 5/8 or 1/2" heater hose to slip onto the heater core nipple. You can cut a piece off the factory hose but I just went to a local shop and got a piece of 5/8 hose. Also pick up a 7/8-1 1/4 SS Hose clamp.

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Now you want to prepare the new set by taking the spring clamps off the old hoses on the water pump end and placing these on the new set on the heater core end. On the water pump end place a spring clamp on the small hose and leave the SS hose clamp off for now. Move the braided wrap on the water pump ends so that it is close to the aluminum hard pipe connections. Keep just a small amount of braid on the hose bend. You can slip the prepared hoses from above the engine down between the fender and the engine. Work the water pump ends between the AC compressor and the fender/frame. Its tight but they will go.

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The last picture above shows why the kit does not fit great. The hard pipes have a "C" bend in them that curves nicely into the fender but continues out into the engine bay instead of straight down or "S" curving back towards the frame. I thought of trying to bend the but the tubing is very thin so I elected to leave them as shown. The attachment bracket is of no use to us without as it sits out in the middle of nowhere. Not even close to the frame where it should attach. Even so it still allows spark plug access and does not touch anything. It is close to the manifold heat shielding but I think this is a non issue. Grabbing the hoses and moving them shows some clearance everywhere. Once I get under the car I think you can pull them a little closer to the frame by tie the attachment bracket to the frame.
There is a few more pictures on my public album but that pretty much sums it up. Took me about two hours so its relatively easy.

[Phil@PnP Tech]

GRRRR8 write up. Considering the cost, I think it's the best "close to OEM" solution. I may venture too bend the hard lines myself to get the contour but still as is, it looks good.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[Ben2009GT]

Doesn't work with headers.

[wreckwriter]

I bought the ones Charlie made 4 years ago and they've been terrific!

Yep, same here.

[Ben2009GT]

Made my own after buying or lets say drank the Kool-Aid on the Camaro hoses that didn't work.

[GingerBeard Man]

Made my own after buying or lets say drank the Kool-Aid on the Camaro hoses that didn't work.

no room with headers? Care to post yours?

[BuildItYourSelf]

That's funny you bumped this thread. I was looking for it a while back and was going to look again because I'm going to build these.
Anyone else want them? No profit to me. Just helping out others.
I think I'm going to use stainless because I know it will bend nice in my bender or maybe if the price on sanitary El's are reasonable I'll do that.
Plus I can tig the bracket right on the tube and not need that plastic block.

[cstmg8]

That's funny you bumped this thread. I was looking for it a while back and was going to look again because I'm going to build these.
Anyone else want them? No profit to me. Just helping out others.
I think I'm going to use stainless because I know it will bend nice in my bender or maybe if the price on sanitary El's are reasonable I'll do that.
Plus I can tig the bracket right on the tube and not need that plastic block.

Let me know cost and I'd be interested. I don't mind you making a buck either.