On page 134, section 6-1 of the assembly manual, I find different colors of vacuum hose mentioned (red, blue, white, yellow). I assume these are all black hoses striped with colors, but were these colors actually used from the factory? The picture I am referring to says it's for "350 4 barrel SM vacuum hose conversion 35C60/35Y72" and I don't know what that means. How does that apply to the run-of-the-mill 350 in my 1972 Vista Cruiser? Does anyone know what the outer diameters of these hoses were originally, whether they had "ribs" in the rubber and again about the various color stripes. Here are some offerings of hoses today: http://www.oldairproducts.com/catalo...um-p-2670.html

https://secure.amesperf.com/qilan/Se...um+hose&sort=0


Thanks, Tom

 

35 series refers to the A-body cars (F-85, Cutlass, 442, Vista). C60 refers to the RPO code for air conditioning. The color coded vacuum hoses refer to the vacuum hose harness used with the A/C system to operate the flapper doors, heater control valve, etc. The were not used on heater-only cars.

 

Thanks Joe. So if I want my AC system to work and look like it used to, should I follow that diagram or trust what I see in my engine bay? I think it's likely that most of the vacuum hoses in my engine bay are still the original ones and I'm surprised that I don't see any trace of white, blue, red, etc on any of the hoses. Especially the hoses by the firewall and the vacuum container and the charcoal canister seem unlikely to ever have been replaced. I also don't see the famous "ribs" on the vacuum hoses, maybe just one single rough edge where I imagine the rubber hose could have been attached to an adjacent rubber hose in the mold and then torn off.

Also, what does SM stand for and when the picture says for SM vacuum hose conversion, does that mean for aftermarket or dealer conversion to an AC system or that this is how a heater-only car was "converted" at the factory assembly line?

Does anyone have a pdf copy of the chassis assembly manual that I read about on another thread? It seems to be separate from the body assembly manual...