I just use the 5/8 hose and it is fine.  If you want to replace the very
front heater core hoses these are preformed and I may have them in
stock.  They are dealer only.  Also the hose that goes from the "T"
fitting to the rear core is wierd.  It is 1/2" at the T but then it
flares to a 5/8" size right before it goes to the rear core and the
fittings there are 5/8".  What I recommend there is to get a new pair of
Ts that have three 5/8" fittings on them and then just use the 5/8" line
here as well.  Why the dealer made the OE Ts with two 5/8" fittings and
one 1/2" when they were just going to flare the end of the hose back up
to 5/8" again at the core is beyond me.  I guess it makes a special hose
that you have to buy at the dealer but that is the only advantage I can
see to it.

Hope this helps,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com

Joe Federici wrote:
> So I'm getting ready to replace the coolant lines with a set of
> stainless steel lines and wanted to replace the coolant hose for the
> front and rear heater cores that run under it.
>
> Should I just got with a good quality 5/8  hose like gates? I looked
> up the part numbers from EKTA but none of the major resellers,
> Vanagain, VolksCafe or BusDepot have anything listed. My local dealer
> wanted like 180.00 a side.
>
> JFF
>
> 87 Syncro Adventurewagen: Vincent Van-Go
>