Silicone Vacuum Hoses

[Rusty_S85]

Has anyone on here used the silicone vacuum hoses?

Ive been looking and it seems like for 3/16" size the easiest to find of quality vacuum hose is the silicone hose. Im just wondering if its a viable option over low temp rated pico brand vacuum hose. Like wise I am curious about silicone vacuum hose used in emission applications. I know the plain silicone vacuum hose is not for fluids but nothing could be found about if they can handle vapor.

[StpaulF100]

I have switched over to silicone on most of my 80’s 300/6 vacuum hoses. Seems to be working well this far. Just need to complete the job amongst other things. I got all the sizes I needed at a decent price from summit.

[Rusty_S85]

I have switched over to silicone on most of my 80’s 300/6 vacuum hoses. Seems to be working well this far. Just need to complete the job amongst other things. I got all the sizes I needed at a decent price from summit.

Thanks for the reply, I am fixing to place an order from summit for a water pump pulley shim kit as I found out the water pump I bought for my 302 build must have had the mount pressed too far down the shaft so the pulley doesnt line up perfectly with the crank.

Im trying to decide if I want to get the blue or black silicone. Initially I thought about just buying some Yellow 3/16" silicone vacuum hose for use with ported vacuum but everything I found in yellow was from china and of questionable quality. Only stuff summit seems to carry that is quality is their Vibrant Performance which only comes in dark blue or black.

I really wanted to try and color code the vacuum circuits with manifold vacuum being red and ported being yellow and then have the PCV hoses in traditional black. I can get red in another brand from jegs but no yellow. Only colors I could find on summit is red, blue or black. I guess I could use red for manifold and blue for ported and then get black for my PCV hoses.

[Gsmblue]

Thanks for the reply, I am fixing to place an order from summit for a water pump pulley shim kit as I found out the water pump I bought for my 302 build must have had the mount pressed too far down the shaft so the pulley doesnt line up perfectly with the crank.

Im trying to decide if I want to get the blue or black silicone. Initially I thought about just buying some Yellow 3/16" silicone vacuum hose for use with ported vacuum but everything I found in yellow was from china and of questionable quality. Only stuff summit seems to carry that is quality is their Vibrant Performance which only comes in dark blue or black.

I really wanted to try and color code the vacuum circuits with manifold vacuum being red and ported being yellow and then have the PCV hoses in traditional black. I can get red in another brand from jegs but no yellow. Only colors I could find on summit is red, blue or black. I guess I could use red for manifold and blue for ported and then get black for my PCV hoses.

In a move of desperation I bought some Si vacuum hose off amazon. It is clearly from China.

I regret getting blue as it confuses with the spark leads.

Can you share a link for the USA made hoses you have found please? I will need to order some up.

Here is a vid of how my hoses look and you can see the routing is not optimal and color does not work..

[Rusty_S85]

In a move of desperation I bought some Si vacuum hose off amazon. It is clearly from China.

I regret getting blue as it confuses with the spark leads.

Can you share a link for the USA made hoses you have found please? I will need to order some up.

Here is a vid of how my hoses look and you can see the routing is not optimal and color does not work..

Thats why I didnt want to get blue, the engine is blue, the valve covers are blue, the sparkplug wires are blue. I was really wanting red for manifold vacuum and yellow for ported vacuum but no one makes yellow from a reputable brand in 3/16".

This is the ones I found made in the USA.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008N0VPJ4/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=AZZUFLYGX73QL&th=1

I did not buy thoses how ever cause that brand is not offered in all the sizes I need, 3/16" for ported vacuum lines, 5/16" for the transmission modulator vacuum line, 3/8" for the PCV vacuum line, and 5/8" for the PCV fresh air line. I ended up buying this brand AC Performance all in black for 3/16" and 3/8" for now in the 3.3ft length. I looked online and AC Performance actually is in the top 10 highest rated silicone vacuum hoses. The NXS ones above are actually in the top 3 but they dont have any vacuum hose over 3/8" and I hate to try and match up the style/appearance of a 5/8" vacuum hose for the fresh air hose for my PCV system.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CZ77VQV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

[FuzzFace2]

Thanks for the reply, I am fixing to place an order from summit for a water pump pulley shim kit as I found out the water pump I bought for my 302 build must have had the mount pressed too far down the shaft so the pulley doesnt line up perfectly with the crank.

Im trying to decide if I want to get the blue or black silicone. Initially I thought about just buying some Yellow 3/16" silicone vacuum hose for use with ported vacuum but everything I found in yellow was from china and of questionable quality. Only stuff summit seems to carry that is quality is their Vibrant Performance which only comes in dark blue or black.

I really wanted to try and color code the vacuum circuits with manifold vacuum being red and ported being yellow and then have the PCV hoses in traditional black. I can get red in another brand from jegs but no yellow. Only colors I could find on summit is red, blue or black. I guess I could use red for manifold and blue for ported and then get black for my PCV hoses.

Do they make a colored shrink wrap?

If so what if you got what hoses you can in the colors you want bot for the color you cant but can get wrap what if you did that hose in black and used the colored wrap on the ends and a few spots along the hose?

Dave ----

[Dyn Blin]

In a move of desperation I bought some Si vacuum hose off amazon. It is clearly from China.

I regret getting blue as it confuses with the spark leads.

Can you share a link for the USA made hoses you have found please? I will need to order some up.

Here is a vid of how my hoses look and you can see the routing is not optimal and color does not work..

Similar to Dave's suggestion, I've used a small cuts of colored shrink tubing of a size appropriate to avoid restriction of the lumen after heat is applied.

Placing these close to the connection ends and in the middle of the hose to identify the routing and purpose really helps in my family fleet of turbo-aspirated models and the small spaces containing multiple emissions vacuum runs.

Quality Si tubing can be dear to price when replacing old stressed rubber lines, especially when I find a brand that is stiff enough not to collapse under load. Buying a quantity in a single basic color and marking them with the colored shrink bands has been a good solution for my use.

[Rusty_S85]

Thanks for the reply, I am fixing to place an order from summit for a water pump pulley shim kit as I found out the water pump I bought for my 302 build must have had the mount pressed too far down the shaft so the pulley doesnt line up perfectly with the crank.

Im trying to decide if I want to get the blue or black silicone. Initially I thought about just buying some Yellow 3/16" silicone vacuum hose for use with ported vacuum but everything I found in yellow was from china and of questionable quality. Only stuff summit seems to carry that is quality is their Vibrant Performance which only comes in dark blue or black.

I really wanted to try and color code the vacuum circuits with manifold vacuum being red and ported being yellow and then have the PCV hoses in traditional black. I can get red in another brand from jegs but no yellow. Only colors I could find on summit is red, blue or black. I guess I could use red for manifold and blue for ported and then get black for my PCV hoses.

Do they make a colored shrink wrap?

If so what if you got what hoses you can in the colors you want bot for the color you cant but can get wrap what if you did that hose in black and used the colored wrap on the ends and a few spots along the hose?

Dave ----

I can buy colored shrink wrap, that might be what I end up doing, I have to first wait till I get what I ordered and see how well it fits. I might have to order some spring clamps to secure the hose but I shouldnt have to but if I have to I might get shrink wrap instead of a clamp and use it as my clamp then place one at equal spacing down the hose or I could find some silicone safe paint and mask the hose off leaving a stripe and then paint the hose.

There are options out there that I am rolling around in my head currently but the two good ones is the shrink wrap in colors and the paint.

[Rusty_S85]

Similar to Dave's suggestion, I've used a small cuts of colored shrink tubing of a size appropriate to avoid restriction of the lumen after heat is applied.

Placing these close to the connection ends and in the middle of the hose to identify the routing and purpose really helps in my family fleet of turbo-aspirated models and the small spaces containing multiple emissions vacuum runs.

Quality Si tubing can be dear to price when replacing old stressed rubber lines, especially when I find a brand that is stiff enough not to collapse under load. Buying a quantity in a single basic color and marking them with the colored shrink bands has been a good solution for my use.

It can be, I wasnt so much concerned about the pricing of the silicone vacuum hose as much as the quality of it. But I also didnt want to have to run a different brand that may look different or may have the brand`s logo plastered all over the hose.

[Rusty_S85]

Similar to Dave's suggestion, I've used a small cuts of colored shrink tubing of a size appropriate to avoid restriction of the lumen after heat is applied.

Placing these close to the connection ends and in the middle of the hose to identify the routing and purpose really helps in my family fleet of turbo-aspirated models and the small spaces containing multiple emissions vacuum runs.

Quality Si tubing can be dear to price when replacing old stressed rubber lines, especially when I find a brand that is stiff enough not to collapse under load. Buying a quantity in a single basic color and marking them with the colored shrink bands has been a good solution for my use.

It can be, I wasnt so much concerned about the pricing of the silicone vacuum hose as much as the quality of it. But I also didnt want to have to run a different brand that may look different or may have the brand`s logo plastered all over the hose.

I installed the silicone hoses I bought and I have to say I am impressed with them. They arent flimsy like I was expecting they are quite stout and very hard to squeeze especially the 3/16" line. I will be buying more of this brand of silicone hose though to do the rest.

Only thing now is I have to verify the hose size from the engine to the vacuum manifold on the firewall I believe its 5/16" and I need to verify the manifold vacuum line that runs from the charcoal canister to manifold vacuum I believe this line is 3/8" as well. But for now I am leaning away from having the charcoal canister functional as I am having a hard time trying to decide what vacuum switch to get if its even necessary with aftermarket EFI.

I really need to get in touch with Mad Scientist Motorsports and pick his brain on what he thinks about using the charcoal canister and purging it off idle, if he can set me up with a holley EFI tune that can handle that or if I am best off just leaving it plugged and let it purge on hot days under the hood.