Whew! I FINALLY finished replacing all of the radiator & heater hoses in the car. I'm sure they were all original. What an exhausting, exasperating, and INFURIATING exercise. I NEVER want to do this again.

One of the Norma fittings on the 'Spider'/'Octopus' hose was cracked and was leaking when I bought the car. It took a little while to find the leak and even longer to figure out how to remove the stupid hose from the back of the engine bay. After I finally replaced the 'Spider' hose there was still a slight leak when the car was hot. When I stopped the car and opened the hood after the engine was good and hot it sounded like the engine was sighing. I finally found that the coolant level sensor in the Expansion Tank was leaking, but only when the car was hot. When I tried to find the leak with a pressure tester it wouldn't show up.

I knew when I bought the car that I wanted/needed to replace all the radiator & heater hoses but I didn't expect it to be such a complicated exercise. I was originally afraid of removing the intake because I was sure I'd snap a hold down bolt for the intake but all the bolts came out with no fuss and were in outstanding condition. I'm not sure what the metal is that they're made from but the shafts/threads all looked like new. I was very pleased.

The most difficult part of the process were the ridiculous Auxiliary system hoses. Getting the pump/valve and hose assembly out was FAR too much work. Getting it back in was even harder. Removing the TB & intake along with the expansion tank does make access easier for this step but it's still far too much work. My forearms are all scraped and bruised from working on the Aux system hoses.

Even the lower radiator hose was a chore. I didn't expect to have to spend as much time under the car to remove & replace radiator & heater hoses. But there's simply no way to get at everything without spending some quality time UNDER the car. Yuck. I'm too old for that nonsense.

I originally didn't want to tackle all of the hoses in a single sitting but after having done it I realize it's probably the best approach. Removing the intake makes accessing the 'Spider' hose and aux system easier. And I believe that having the ends of the 'Spider' hose in the way makes getting the Aux system in & out harder. It would makes things simpler if the 'Spider' hose is out before removing/replacing the Aux system & hoses. And once the intake is out the hoses under the intake are easy.

 

Well done....

 

Well done; good to have those restoration items behind, isn't it? An old expansion tank cap o-ring failure can also cause hard-to-diagnose issues, even if the expansion tank itself is ok. Not a bad idea to replace it every few years...

 

Exactly. Want those resto/overdue maintenance items checked off. As quickly as possible.