Topic: 68 SJ 390 Heater Hose

[bullitt68]

Does anyone have a photo of what the correct rad hose should look like for my 68 SJ 390

[Bob Gaines]

Does anyone have a photo of what the correct rad hose should look like for my 68 SJ 390

This I at least one factory variety . Original hose that Ken Bramblet used as a template when he used to make the hoses up for different vendors. He stopped doing it about 15 or 20 years ago. He passed his original on to me that I still have a memento.

[bullitt68]

This I at least one factory variety . Original hose that Ken Bramblet used as a template when he used to make the hoses up for different vendors. He stopped doing it about 15 or 20 years ago. He passed his original on to me that I still have a memento.

Thanks Bob it does look pretty close to the Marti hose, don't you think? Was the template a stamp or a stencil?

[Bob Gaines]

Thanks Bob it does look pretty close to the Marti hose, don't you think? Was the template a stamp or a stencil?

The original hose in the pictures appears to have been stamped. I think Ken when he made them up years ago using a ribbed hose that used to be able to get from Ford used a stencil and paint .

[bullitt68]

The original hose in the pictures appears to have been stamped. I think Ken when he made them up years ago using a ribbed hose that used to be able to get from Ford used a stencil and paint .

Hi Bob FYI I searched the survivor photos for 1968 San Jose cars and all of the cars had red stripped heater hoses, except the stripe was a solid red with no Autolite or date stamp. Also the red paint/ink was much lighter than what is typically observed on reproduction hoses.

[Bob Gaines]

Hi Bob FYI I searched the survivor photos for 1968 San Jose cars and all of the cars had red stripped heater hoses, except the stripe was a solid red with no Autolite or date stamp. Also the red paint/ink was much lighter than what is typically observed on reproduction hoses.

I have some of the single stripe hose too. I have only seen the dated hose on 68?s and some early 69?s . I can only say for sure seeing them on Metuchen and Dearborn cars in that time period as the Shelby?s produced in those plants are my field of interest. I am sure the single line hose was produced with a roller stamp as the hundreds of yards of hose came out of a fixture during the manufacturing process. I have seen similarly marked hoses done that way. I haven?t studied the process the repro suppliers use.

[bullitt68]

I have some of the single stripe hose too. I have only seen the dated hose on 68?s and some early 69?s . I can only say for sure seeing them on Metuchen and Dearborn cars in that time period as the Shelby?s produced in those plants are my field of interest. I am sure the single line hose was produced with a roller stamp as the hundreds of yards of hose came out of a fixture during the manufacturing process. I have seen similarly marked hoses done that way. I haven?t studied the process the repro suppliers use.

Thanks Bob I am thinking of replacing the stripe on my hoses like the examples above. I have replaced the green & white stripes on the vacuum lines already as the reproductions appeared different than the original examples I have seen. It's a pretty easy process and looks much better IMO. I may give it a go with the heater hoses and post the results to get some feedback. So far in my search I have not seen any examples on original cars with the autolite logo/date with the dark cheery paint/ink. The examples I have seen appear to have a fair amount of orange pigment mixed in with the red for a brighter overall appearance in general. Perhaps someone more familiar with San Jose practices will chime in to assist.

[J_Speegle]

Hi Bob FYI I searched the survivor photos for 1968 San Jose cars and all of the cars had red stripped heater hoses, except the stripe was a solid red with no Autolite or date stamp. Also the red paint/ink was much lighter than what is typically observed on reproduction hoses.

I have a number of original examples with heater hoses on 68 with no coding just solid red stripes like earlier cars and you have posted two examples of those. Possibly a different supplier and likely then connected to specific car assembly plants. One example is the 68 T code Dearborn coupe shown in the Unrestored picture thread. Part of one of the posted pictures in the thread

[bullitt68]

I have a number of original examples with heater hoses on 68 with no coding just solid red stripes like earlier cars and you have posted two examples of those. Possibly a different supplier and likely then connected to specific car assembly plants. One example is the 68 T code Dearborn coupe shown in the Unrestored picture thread. Part of one of the posted pictures in the thread

Thanks Jeff. Is it possible that my car could have come with the solid red stripe and not the Autolite/Date code?

[J_Speegle]

Thanks Jeff. Is it possible that my car could have come with the solid red stripe and not the Autolite/Date code?

Unfortunately batteries, fan belts, hoses and shocks were often the first things replaced back in the day so few examples remain and few period pictures were taken that show these details.   

To the question. Here is what I think we have as evidence at this point


Your car
8R02S162374 Built June 5, 1968

Examples posted
Solid - 8R01C1673xx Built June 16, 1968

Solid - 8F01T20531x Scheduled build date June 11 0r 12, 1968

Some additional shots of that fine example. Notice that the hoses have not been replaced and the factory sealant is still on the hoes at the firewall in the upper picture




We do have other examples with the stripe and intergrated AUTOLITE and number but that was not the question 

So trusting both of these examples (seen them both in person) IMHO the hoses were in the system around the same time as your car was built so I would say its possible though I would love to see more original examples. Bu then again I would like to see more of either original examples since both are difficult to find. Now that I think about it I didn't check any of the 68 Shelby examples. Maybe they will provide some additional data points to the discussion and possibly more solids.

[J_Speegle]

On the same related subject here is another angle of the solid red stripe heater hose. There is identification marking on striped hose. The other hose (that connects the the intake nipple and the heater control shut off) has a MADE IN marking in white (owner often used an older light with a yellow cast to it) and no visible stripped hose. This is 8R01C1673xx the very nice unrestored owned originally by one of our members who in recent years sold the car to another member that we often use to illustrate practices and details of late 68 San Jose production as well as for other purposes.

SO would love to see if we could find a possible third version but unfortunately a non-striped hose will even more difficult to identify but no one said or should say much of this is easy.   

NOTE: Was reminded in another thread that this hose is suppose to be a preformed hose which suggest or supports that this hose and its markings is not original to the car. Sorry I missed that detail and had forgotten that details when posting

[bullitt68]

On the same related subject here is another angle of the solid red stripe heater hose. There is identification marking on striped hose. The other hose (that connects the the intake nipple and the heater control shut off) has a MADE IN marking in white (owner often used an older light with a yellow cast to it) and no visible stripped hose. This is 8R01C1673xx the very nice unrestored owned originally by one of our members who in recent years sold the car to another member that we often use to illustrate practices and details of late 68 San Jose production as well as for other purposes.

SO would love to see if we could find a possible third version but unfortunately a non-striped hose will even more difficult to identify but no one said or should say much of this is easy. 

Thanks Jeff those are some very interesting photos. It looks like the "Made in USA" stamp is yellow and you can just make out the solid red stripe. Looks like the hose in on an air conditioning car. Not sure if that makes a difference. FYI my car does no0t have AC.

[bullitt68]

Unfortunately batteries, fan belts, hoses and shocks were often the first things replaced back in the day so few examples remain and few period pictures were taken that show these details.   

To the question. Here is what I think we have as evidence at this point


Your car
8R02S162374 Built June 5, 1968

Examples posted
Solid - 8R01C1673xx Built June 16, 1968

Solid - 8F01T20531x Scheduled build date June 11 0r 12, 1968

Some additional shots of that fine example. Notice that the hoses have not been replaced and the factory sealant is still on the hoes at the firewall in the upper picture




We do have other examples with the stripe and intergrated AUTOLITE and number but that was not the question 

So trusting both of these examples (seen them both in person) IMHO the hoses were in the system around the same time as your car was built so I would say its possible though I would love to see more original examples. Bu then again I would like to see more of either original examples since both are difficult to find. Now that I think about it I didn't check any of the 68 Shelby examples. Maybe they will provide some additional data points to the discussion and possibly more solids.

Thanks Jeff those are also great photos. Looks like the hose is strapped to the fender brace and also it looks like a clip that the hose passes through on the shock tower on the hose to the water pump. You can also see the intake return heater hose in the background with the red stripe. Unfortunately the reproduction hoses are not available in solid red as far as I know, which is not a problem as I will stripe my own. Also the quality of the reproduction hoses I have seen is not that good. If the stamp on the made in USA hose is any indication of the stamp quality of the originals, it indicates that the repops are very poorly stamped compared to the nice crisp quality of the originals.

Also I noticed that the vacuum hose has a red and white stripe on it compared to the green and white reproduction vacuum hoses I have seen. This is the first photo of a red & white vacuum hose that I have seen. So to go down the rabbit hole even deeper regarding hose stripes, were some vacuum hoses red & white or any other colours for that matter?

[J_Speegle]

Haven't tried to purchase any reproduction heater hoses for 65-67 cars so don't know if they are currently reproducing red or white stripe (that could be recolored). If I recall correctly someone over on the Cougar stripe built a fixture and had stripped his own hoses. Need to look for that thread or the picture he posted showing some of the process. Looked pretty good surprisingly in the picture

As for vacuum hoses there are a number of colors used in 68 and other years along, looking across the 60's the later addition of the broken stripe and MX markings. Colors used are listed in the factory drawings in the emission books for each application. Believe I posted a number of these by year in the Library many years ago. If we need to dive more, you know how to start a new thread 

[bullitt68]

Haven't tried to purchase any reproduction heater hoses for 65-67 cars so don't know if they are currently reproducing red or white stripe (that could be recolored). If I recall correctly someone over on the Cougar stripe built a fixture and had stripped his own hoses. Need to look for that thread or the picture he posted showing some of the process. Looked pretty good surprisingly in the picture

As for vacuum hoses there are a number of colors used in 68 and other years along, looking across the 60's the later addition of the broken stripe and MX markings. Colors used are listed in the factory drawings in the emission books for each application. Believe I posted a number of these by year in the Library many years ago. If we need to dive more, you know how to start a new thread 

Thanks Jeff I plan to stripe my own hoses and apply the correct markings/stamps once I figure out what is correct