1956 Cadillac ribbed heater hose

[Pat]

Does anyone have a good source for this ?
Some of the Cadillac suppliers want a zillion dollars a foot..just figured some of the generic GM suppliers might carry this hose.
Pat

[Pat]

I just discovered the search function and found Lou's post regarding this subject....Thanks Lou !

[Joe 12138]

I'm in the same boat.......I just can't trust the original hoses on my '55 anymore. I tried calling some of the Chevy suppliers, but they usually sell car-specific kits with pre-cut lenghts. I'm looking for the source, where I can buy a 25 or 50 foot bulk box of the stuff to keep in the shop and make my own lengths as needed. None of the Chevy kits have hoses long enough to hit the underseat heater on the Caddy.  I still haven't found the source (mother lode) or manufacturer yet.......still looking on and off.

[Doug Houston]

My recollection from the first '56 I had, and worked on rather thoroughly  is, that they  used molded radiator hoses on the car.

I know from memory that the heater hoses were regular hoses. I seem to recall that the 5/8" hose was 23 feet long. It threaded through the frame, in its routing. There was a run of 3/4" hose too, but I've forgotten how much.

The ribbed hoses that a lot of our cars may have on them would lose points for you. Those hoses were made by Gates, and were called; "Vulco-Flex. They work well, but aren't authentic.

I'll have to go and see my '56 that's in storage. I haven't seen it in several years.  I'm willing to bet that it has some Vulco-Flex hoses on it.

[Otto Skorzeny]

Doug is right. The OEM heater hose on the '56 is plain black and as I recall, takes about 25 feet or so for the entire car.

[Walter Youshock]

The original 3/4" heater hoses had 6 ribs molded in them--3 on each side of the hose.  It was a Delco thing.

Probably extruded like a noodle through an exclusive die.