Help with custom radiator piping shopping list

[chucklesas]

So I'm getting back into fixing my car up to run correctly. Right now I have a mess of hoses and clamps between the engine and honda civic radiator that are leaking in several places. I want to just go with some -AN braided stainless flex hose and fittings.

What size male weld-on bung fittings should I be using and what material for the water outlet pipe and the thermostat outlet? Are they both mild steel? I'm running an aluminum radiator, I think the stock outlets on it are 1" or maybe even smaller than that, but I'll just end up cutting those off and welding aluminum bungs to match what is required for the water outlet pipe.

 

[TylerAdamson]

-16 will suffice for a daily driven car, if you're worried about flow then you can step up to a -20 for quite a bit more. As for weld fittings, you'll want an aluminum fitting for the thermostat housing and a steel fitting for the water pipe. I've got both weld fittings in -16 sitting in my tool box if you're interested in them. PM me and we can discuss it.

 

[chucklesas]

Thanks for the info. I still need to get at the car to see if I can even get the lines to fit... that waterpipe outlet looks like it's pretty close to the shifter linkage, so I'll need to make sure I angle everything and use fittings that won't interfere.

 

[boostedinaz]

-16 will work but -20 is better. Keep in mind these fittings are BIG and expensive. A buddy of mine put -20 on #3 and each fitting was 25-30 bucks and the bungs were 15 or so a piece. They look really good and he'll never have a leak but at a price.

PM 3of1000 on here and he can tell you exactly what fittings he bought.

 

[onesickcrx]

I installed -20an's on 449 because its much closer to the stock line ID. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif


I vote -20an.....But.....rubber hose is much easier to deal with just saying /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[chucklesas]

Yeah, I'm pricing it out now. The only issue with the rubber hose is that trying to find something that fits my exact setup is next to impossible.

Currently, the upper hose is a straight piece that I had to trim down and add some material too on the radiator end, since the civic radiator hose outlet is much smaller than the stock.

Then, on the bottom I didn't have anything long enough, so I ended up cutting a stock hose in half and lengthening it with some straight steel tube, even then the angles aren't quite right. And it's leaking at one of the 4 connections on that bottom tube.

I realized as I started pricing out the -16 stuff that this would be pretty pricey. About $15/flange, then $20-40 per hose end, depending on brand, and about $10/foot for the braided hose, I don't know if 3 feet will be enough, but 6 feet is definitely way too much. So, about $250-$300 for radiator hose :-( I'm crazy.

I could probably have someone fab it out of some mandrals and silicon connectors for way cheaper... maybe?

 

[onesickcrx]

Price out earls -20an black ano tuff and some earls light weight hose then tell me who's crazy lol

 

[chucklesas]

Do you have any pictures of your setup? I'm curious to see how that looks under the hood. I was considering going with Summit Racing's black anodized ends.

 

[onesickcrx]

Older pics but I hope it helps /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif