348 Tri-Power Heater Hose Connector

ozzie7

Well Known Member
At some time in my 59 Impala's past, this hose connector (circled in yellow) was installed on the intake by someone, for who knows what reason.
Has anyone seen one of these as an OEM replacement or actually come off the assembly line with it?
I'm thinking it's aftermarket.
This car is a late July 59 build (60th birthday soon!)
I was under the impression it should have come with the style in the second pic.


8CbrHEO.jpg



Standard OEM Style like this .... I think is all that was ever available from Chevy.

NfznBvA.jpg
 
Last edited:

ozzie7

Well Known Member
Thanks Phil.
The orange one that's on it looks sleek and slender... probably what the PO was going for.
After seeing the close-up picture, it kinda looks like it was hand made or at least hand ground.
 

Lee M

New Member
The heater hose bypass was probably replaced because the bypass hose kept slipping off of the nipple...quite ingenious to come up with the plumbing tee idea. You will notice the OEM bypass nipple has no lip to help keep the hose on. I have a 348 3x2 and it doesn't matter how tight I get the clamp, pressure builds up and blows the hose off spraying water all over my engine compartment. I would appreciate any suggestions on the cause or how to remedy this with the OEM bypass because I can't drive the car like this. I first thought my heater core might be plugged up but I bypassed the heater and it still blows off.
 

IMBVSUR?

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
Depending on the metal of the original, weld or JB cold weld a bead towards the end. Or if you can find something small enough to create a bead like when bead rolling other tubes. The other thought I had was pull out that nipple and find something similar with a bead or what ever they call those ends for hoses, that are threaded in brass and tap that bypass and screw it in.
 

Lt.FrankDrebin

Well Known Member
I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread. I'm about to embark on a cooling system project and was going to finally add-in this T fitting that is currently missing. I pondered that about the lack of a lip on the T nipple. After reading the comments here, I'm going to try to solder a metal ring on to form a lip. And the factory original T didn't have a lip on this nipple?
 

32witha409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 3
And the factory original T didn't have a lip on this nipple?
No it had a bead. I can't believe GM wouldn't have known better than leave it smooth. I watched mine move while warming up and bleed the pressure off right away.
Actually you can buy steel beaded hose nipples that would probably fit where the straight one is pressed in. I just thought it would be quicker to make the brass collar and get out the silver solder and torch.
 

Lt.FrankDrebin

Well Known Member
No it had a bead. I can't believe GM wouldn't have known better than leave it smooth. I watched mine move while warming up and bleed the pressure off right away.
Actually you can buy steel beaded hose nipples that would probably fit where the straight one is pressed in. I just thought it would be quicker to make the brass collar and get out the silver solder and torch.
Yep; I'll be soldering (sweating) on a bead. Luckily, the water pump appears to have a 3/8" NPT plug threaded-in, so I can just replace that plug with a 5/8" nipple which already has a bead.
 

Lt.FrankDrebin

Well Known Member
I finally did it. After a few days of thinking about what I could use to form this lip, I thought about that battery spring I saved from an old boom box. The coil diameter was even perfect to clamp onto the nipple before soldering. Perfect result:
IMG_6586.JPGIMG_6589.JPG
Send me yours and I'll do the same. Using a hose nipple with no lip sounds like a bad idea.
 

Lt.FrankDrebin

Well Known Member
I discovered another hack the other day while I was playing locksmith. Those rings that come with new keys would make an excellent bead for this nipple. I have two pictured; one is slightly smaller than the other, but still, they are almost perfect diameter. I'd reduce the diameter slightly so that it really clamps onto the nipple as you're sweating it on.IMG_6594.JPGIMG_6595.JPG
 
Top