RHD 850 Coupe heater hoses?

[Jeff Stich]

As part of the overall rebuild process on my RHD (Right Hand Drive) 1968 Fiat 850 Sport Coupe, I'm currently servicing the heater assembly for the car. I have the plastic heater box removed from the car & completely disassembled, & the heater core will soon be going to a radiator shop for a proper clean-out & pressure (leak) test. While that's being done, I will be cleaning/servicing the fan/motor assembly, as well as freeing up the upper air intake door (flap) so it'll open/close properly (it's rusted-stuck halfway open right now). A new heater valve, valve gasket & fan switch are already waiting on my workbench, as are the 2 rear heater hoses (from center tunnel coolant tubes to engine & radiator). This leaves me with just the 2 front heater hoses I've yet to acquire.

My factory 850 Parts Book tells me that the part numbers for the front heater hoses on the RHD Coupe "04" variant are different than on the regular (LHD) 850's. A web search for the 2 RHD hoses (Fiat parts 4146301 & 4146302) comes back empty.

So what front heater hoses do you RHD 850 Coupe owners "Across The Pond" &/or "Down Under" use for your cars?

 

[Attard_850]

Hi Jeff,

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to this part of my build just yet, though I do know what you are talking about as I was only thinking about this the other week. Are you trying to keep it "Original" or have you considered using a general length of hose as a replacement?

Some parts have proven to be very difficult to track down over the years of my build, I feel the pain though!

Aaron.

 

[JimD]

Hi Jeff,

What size is the hose (ID and length)? Just looking at the picture it is hard to tell the true size and shape. When I needed a lower rad hose for my 124 sedan I found a replacement at O'Reilly that was a very good fit. So I did a quick Amazon search on "molded heater hose" and looked thru the results and found this hose which is also available at O'Reilly. It looks like the shape is maybe in the ball park for 4146301. It is a 5/8" ID with a 7.5" center line length. Is that close?

 

[ghostdancing]

Jeff, i'm doing the same job on the heather of my 128 coupe: my flaps where also rusted and seized, just bought new radiator (aftermarket, not original) and valve (original); i cleaned and painted the flaps (zinc plating or powercoating maebe it's better, but i went on the quick way)
worked with some vaseline to set free the flap's pivots (to avoid bad smelling product such as WD40 to enter in the car); i also purchased some foam that will glue on the flaps,to replace the original that became a powder,

to replace the old radiator tubes i will use general tube to be cut: cheap and easy to source