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>Hi fellow list members,
>    I have seen a few posts lately about coolant hoses for our beloved
>vanagons.  I have a partial list of hoses  that I have used, in some cases
>I'm sure there are better solutions, so feel free to comment,  add, and
>modify my list.  I  have used the hose chart "coolant hoses -wasserboxer
>86-91 2wd"   from Jim  Thomsons site at Old Volks Home.
>    We have a napa  flaps here so these hoses are their part numbers where
>possible.  Some of the solutions I use won't be expectable to some of you
so
>I will list the hoses that require just a trim to the correct length first
>then I will discuss  my solution to other more complex hoses.
>    Again using the letters and part numbers from Jims Chart, I will state
>the size and shape of the hose  in  inches and describe them as best I can
>remember.  I have an 86 westy, 2wd, 4 speed, and A/C.
>
>H:  vw 252-121-130b   napa 7990  right head front to valve.  1" id 6" long
>has 2   60 degree bends.
>
>J:  vw 025-121-058e   napa  10050  thermostat housing to oil cooler pipe
>.472" id one end, other end .635" , 3" long.
>
>R: vw  025-121-058h  napa  9807 expansion tank to pipe tee. ,620" id both
>ends.  90 degree bend each leg 4.5" long.
>
>?                                  napa  777             thermostat housing
>to water pump pipe. 1.5"  both ends  90 degree bend 1 leg 6" other 4"
>    this hose doesn't  seem to be listed on the chart and I couldn't read
>the number on the hose either.Good picture of it in bentley on 19.11.  It
is
>the big on there with the 90 degree turn.
>
>O.  vw  N901287.03  napa  1"  hose   water pump feed to right side of
>crankcase. 1" id  3" long. I got  a napa  1" hose in 3 foot length heavy
>duty hose.
>
>D. vw N902873.03   napa 1.5" hose   valve to radiator feed.    Again this
>was part of 3ft length hose.
>
>F. vw 251-121-058a   napa 1" hose       Thermostat housing to valve.   1"
id
>about 2 ft long
>
>G. vw 443-121-107A   this is a 7mm hose from a vw flaps,   napa here
doesn't
>carry 7mm hose.
>
>K. vw 025-121-058D   oil cooler to oil cooler pipe from from thermostat
>housing.  No direct solution here. However 5/8" heater hose about 2 feet
>long can be ran directly from the oil cooler to the thermostat housing
>eliminating the need for hoses J and K. I like the one hose solution
better
>than the normal path as there is more clearance from the oil cooler hose
and
>the header pipe. My hose K  got brittle and blew coolant all over my clean
>engine.
>
>L. vw 025-121-058G  Oil cooler to oil cooler pipe from water pump. No napa
>hose replacement  and no good way to eleminate this hose that I have found.
>Maybe someone else can find a sub.
>
>M. vw 025-121-058J    3/8" id  napa hose  A straight hose will function
fine
>here  3/8 id 4" long
>
>P. vw 443-121-107A  7mm vw flaps.  right head to pipe
>
>Q.  vw 025-121-108D no napa solution.  pipe at water pump to expansion tank
>. 1" id on both ends. this hose is designed to take a lot of flexing
between
>the engine and the expansion tank.  I need help on this one, somewhere
there
>must be another application that uses a similar  hose.
>
>S. vw 025-121-058B  No  napa solution. thermostat housing to pipe tee. 1/2"
>id one end 7mm other end, about 14 inches long. Need help on this one also.
>
>
>    Heater hoses are all 5/8 inch hose and no real big problems here.  I
>replaced the Tees  for the rear heater with 5/8" diameter  Tees on all
three
>points because  the originals had 2 5/8 and one 1/2 inch point.  30 feet of
>5/8 hose is needed to replace all heater hoses.Straight hoses will even
make
>the turns for the front heater under the dash without too much problem.
>However if your inside front heater hoses are good I would consider keeping
>them as they require a bit of time to replace.  I was considering
connecting
>my heaters in series instead of parallel, but backed off because I thought
>it might degrade the  heat.  Napa has regular grade or premium grade heater
>hose and so do many other flaps.
>
>
>For the rest of the hoses I used copper pipe, 90 degree elbows and various
>copper pipe adapters. This requires soldering some pretty heavy pipe but
>could be done with a plain propane torch.  I bought  napa heavy duty hoses
>that are used mostly on diesel trucks and industrial applications. This was
>a mistake I would   go with regular grade  hoses if I did this again.  The
>heavy duty hoses has double  layers of nylon reinforcement  and outside
>wrapped with nylon. It is a real pain to work with  and after a couple of
>days  working with them I discovered why most Illinois diesel mechanics
>appear to be fresh off the Minnesota and Wisconsin farms.
>I used  6 feet of 1.5 in id hose
>        3  feet of 1.25 in id hose
>        3 feet of   1 in id hose. most  1 in stuff was used on hose above
at
>item F, and  O.
>
>A. vw 251-121-082 napa 1.5 and 1.125 inch hose. upper Rad feed hose.
>radiator connection is 1.33" and long hoses are 1.5 inch, straight 28"
long.
>I used some 1.25 in hose at the radiator end and made an adapter using
1.25
>copper pipe, adapter to 1.5 in copper some 1.5 in copper pipe then 1.5 in
>hose to the long feeder hose.
>
>
>B. vw 251-121-083H  napa 1.5 and 1.125 hoses.  lower radiator return hose.
>same id on hose as A above however  a 90 degree elbow is required on this
>one.  Use a short as possible 3" or less  1.125 hose, a very short 1.125"
>pipe, 90 degree elbow, 1.125" pipe , adapter to 1.5", some 1.5" pipe then
>1.5" hose. use mostly 1.5" hose here as you need to get up and around the
>spare tire in a hurry. Keep your copper lengths short.
>
>E. vw 025-121-062E  napa 1.5" hose and  some 1.5" copper pipe. return to
>thermostat housing. 1.5" both ends however this one goes up and over the
>transaxil. use a short 1.5" id hose about a 2.5 inches of copper 90 degree
>up, about 10 inches  (check this measurement)   1.5 "id  copper pipe up
> line these up so your copper pipe rests nicely in the hose holder above
the
>transaxil) , now 90 degree copper elbow and you are heading over the
>transaxil, install enough 1.5" copper pipe so you line up with the
>thermostat housing. (hint it is best to  be a little too long with the pipe
>going over the transaxil or  your hose might cause shifting problems). Now
>turn 90 degrees with copper elbow toward the thermostat housing install a
>short 1.5 in id pipe in the elbow. use a 1.5"id  hose to connect to the
>thermostat housing.    That  sounds  pretty involved, try this for
>directions from the long return hose go back a few inches up about 10
inches
>over the transaxil about 20 inches and turn back toward the thermostat.
>What you end up with is a copper pipe with 3 90 degree elbows attached.
>
>
>N. vw 025-121-058M napa 1" hose, home made  adapter  and some 7mm hose.
>Right head to pipe. one end is 1" other is 7mm.  start with  a short  1"
>hose, use a very short 1" id copper pipe, 90 degree copper elbow, I then
>used an adapter from  my local  hardware store  from 1" down to 1/4" id
>copper pipe  that I used and then just stuffed the 7mm hose over that. The
>origional hose on my 86 had sprung a leak and for a while I thought I had a
>head leak.
>
>If You have any questions or suggestions please feel free to correct this
or
>add to it or drop me a note if you want to discuss it.
>
>Darrell Boehler
>Makanda Illinois
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