Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Hi guys!
I reinstalled the radiator in my 1950 Deluxe 8 and am having trouble getting the upper bottom short radiator hose to slip on to the water pump. The hose is short and the metal tube is real close to the water pump inlet.

Are there any hints or kinks on how to get it to slip onto the water pump. Any help is appreciated.
Mike Burkhart
Dodge City, KS

The earlier 356 engine also uses a metal tube but don't know if it is the same one.

What I did on my 47 is spray both hose insides and all pipe ends with silicone spray. That way it was slippery enough I could slide the short hose down on the pipe a bit farther for the upper piece and slip the pipe down into the lower hose just a bit more to get some wiggle room. I think I had maybe 1/2 inch of hose extending off the pipe to start at the pump. Once the pipe and hose was reasonably lined up and close to the pump, with minimal effort the hose slid off the pipe and then onto the pump. After that it was easy enough to arrange everything so the hoses had more or less equal overlap at all clamp points.

Mine wasn't terrible doing it that way but not sure if there is any significant differences in geometry between 47 and 50 that would change the process. You might also be able to do virtually the same thing by installing the hose completely at the pump and then raise the end of hose slightly to be able to work the pipe into the hose.

Howard,
I finally got it. I used some dish soap to get the inside of the hose slick. I twisted the metal tube enough to get an angle on it so that I could start it onto the water pump, then it slipped right on. After that , I straightened the metal tube so it was straight with the water pump. Yes, before that I had to slide the hose all the way on to the metal tube, then pull it on to the water pump.

I finally did something smart today, I put the clamps on the tube before the hose!!!

Thanks,
Mike