Hello All,
I have a couple of questions/statements regarding the radiator hoses for the LS Gen-II (#8260 and #8286A in the picture below.) But before I dive into those, first I would like to say thanks to everyone who posts useful and thoughtful information on this forum. I've always wanted an LS since they came out in late 99' and I finally purchased my first used one this past April for a great deal, its a fully loaded 2004 Ultimate edition with every option under the sun. It had 155K of highway miles on it and I live in the south so no rust. I noted a rear end whine and squeaky belt when I test drove it, along with a couple of very small dings, so I was able to talk the salesman/manager down to $5750 cash. Needless to say, I've been very pleased with the car. I swapped out the diff with one from a salvage yard (from a 2006 with 80k on it) and changed the belt, along with the thermostat, housing, and all plastic parts between the housing and the engine.
Since then I've noticed a leak on part 8260 below, right on the opposite side of the pipe that goes down, along the seam.
I have a temporary fix in place to stop the leak until I get the new part from fordpartsgiant.com, however for the long term, I would like to do something different with this particular part (including the opposite side 8286A).
My question is, has anyone taken common parts (from Autozone Advance, Napa etc..) and built their own versions of these hoses? And if so, how has it turned out? What I would like to do is come up with a store-bought solution for these parts utilizing standard metal "T" connectors and common hose wherever possible that can be swapped out easily if need be and avoid using the injection molded plastic that is already there. Depending on what sort of feedback I get from this post, I will be the guinea pig and post my parts list when I am done. Looking forward to the feedback, and I'm happy to be yet another member of the LS Forums.
This link has more pics of my ride:
HERE
I have a couple of questions/statements regarding the radiator hoses for the LS Gen-II (#8260 and #8286A in the picture below.) But before I dive into those, first I would like to say thanks to everyone who posts useful and thoughtful information on this forum. I've always wanted an LS since they came out in late 99' and I finally purchased my first used one this past April for a great deal, its a fully loaded 2004 Ultimate edition with every option under the sun. It had 155K of highway miles on it and I live in the south so no rust. I noted a rear end whine and squeaky belt when I test drove it, along with a couple of very small dings, so I was able to talk the salesman/manager down to $5750 cash. Needless to say, I've been very pleased with the car. I swapped out the diff with one from a salvage yard (from a 2006 with 80k on it) and changed the belt, along with the thermostat, housing, and all plastic parts between the housing and the engine.
Since then I've noticed a leak on part 8260 below, right on the opposite side of the pipe that goes down, along the seam.
I have a temporary fix in place to stop the leak until I get the new part from fordpartsgiant.com, however for the long term, I would like to do something different with this particular part (including the opposite side 8286A).
My question is, has anyone taken common parts (from Autozone Advance, Napa etc..) and built their own versions of these hoses? And if so, how has it turned out? What I would like to do is come up with a store-bought solution for these parts utilizing standard metal "T" connectors and common hose wherever possible that can be swapped out easily if need be and avoid using the injection molded plastic that is already there. Depending on what sort of feedback I get from this post, I will be the guinea pig and post my parts list when I am done. Looking forward to the feedback, and I'm happy to be yet another member of the LS Forums.
This link has more pics of my ride:
HERE
