Hoses - bling or no bling?

[Storer]

Have any others on here gone for ordinary hoses instead of the red, blue and silver braided hoses?

Having used the car fully built before the rebuild I found some of the drawbacks of these hoses. The stainless steel braid is bl**dy sharp when damaged. It is also abrasive so be careful what you strap it to.

When new they help "dress" the engine bay, but as they age it does look a bit naff.

I am swapping all my blue hoses for black silicone for the cooling system. I am also seriously considering having my oil and fuel hoses made by a local hydraulic company. The alternative would be to get the black versions of the type I have now.

I know the red/blue are more in keeping with the race car ethos but what do others think.


Paul

[crafty]

We used black braided hoses on the Pontiac....

[deadscoob]

Goodridge do black hose and black ends don't they?

I think the standard red/blue looks nice but is dated.

[Whitean3]

Like the thought of the black hoses with red ends...

[macgtech]

Whilst the steel braid is abrasive, clearly it has a function in protecting the hose. We went through this decision process and decided to stick with the braided hoses - should you throw/break the ancillary drive belt (which is not unheard of), the first thing it will tear through are the fuel lines on the bulkhead - then things will get ugly. Clearly the overbraid will protect the lines against this - and against damage from any debris thrown up into the engine bay from underneath (again unlikely) - the oil lines to the sump on the LS7 are somewhat vulnerable.

As for the colour of the silicon hoses, it could be argued that the coloured stuff makes it easier to spot splits, though this is probably marginal. It does encourage you to keep the engine bay clean though which is no bad thing!

[Storer]

Steel over-braid may help protect the pipe compared to nylon reinforced rubber hoses but hydraulic hoses have either one or two layers of steel braiding inside the hose. I would think they are at least as strong as over-braid. Also the compression fittings would be stronger. However, they are not as pretty.

I have a bit more time to decide what to do so other comments or suggestions welcome.


Paul

[ROWDYRENAULT]

One thing I like about the new cloth braided hoses is that they live well with other peices in the car. if you get a steel braided hose to close to anthing alloy it will saw through it in short order. Yes, I know nothing should touch but it happens. Lee

[Storer]

Lee

That is one of the reasons for my deliberations.

I also wonder if part of the heat transfer to the fuel is down to the braided hose as the stainless steel aids the heat transfer to the rubber inside.


Paul