George;

I know what you mean. And having just done an upgrade in my westy from
NA to intercooled TD, I have my local parts house trained to get out
the hoses when they see me come in the door.

I think for my purpose, though, the conversion table is just the thing.
In the last year, I've replaced several small hoses and one broken
plastic fitting, so the smaller hoses nearer the block and exhaust are
starting to go. I don't drive the 2.1 that often but when I do it's
usually on an out of town trip. I don't really care about overtorquing
hose clamps if the object is to get a part from Billy Bob and get back
on the road.

If I weren't traveling, I'd order the part from SOMEONE NOT VW anyway.

Jim

On Oct 18, 2005, at 10:48 AM, THX0001@aol.com wrote:

>
> In a message dated 10/18/05 10:58:23 AM, felder@KNOLOGY.NET writes:
>
> << A while back, someone put together a very good table of NAPA
> equivalents
> of VW hoses.>>
>
> The NAPA hoses are not equivalent to the VW hoses.  Some of the hoses
> recommended in the listing fit rather loosely and will seal only by
> means of an
> overly torqued worm type hose clamp.  I had much better success by
> nosing around
> the pre-formed hose selection stocked at an auto parts house than by
> using the
> ones on the listing.  Although, for a few of the applications I had to
> buy a
> two foot long pre-formed hose in order to get just the right six inch
> piece,
> compared to the VW hoses the hoses were so cheap it didn't matter.
> There are a
> couple of the stock hoses for which I could find no suitable
> substitutions.
>
> I once bought a substitute pre-formed hose from a local parts house
> which
> even fit better than the aftermarket item sold by the list vendors.
> So, my
> suggestion is to forget that list and do some legwork.
>
> George
>