Hard Plastic vacuum lines
Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 10:15 pm
Like most of us with old Fox Mustangs, I have a cracked hard plastic vacuum line. The plastic is Nylon, which is fairly flexible when new but loses pliability with age. Anyway, I found a great replacement source for those who want to keep their engine bay looking as factory as possible. McMaster Carr sells nylon tubing that is vacuum rated to 28 inches of mercury in a variety of colors that will match up very well with the original Ford tubes. The brand new stuff is flexible and does not crack. It is about 7 bucks a roll of 25 feet, so a couple of guys can split an order. Get the color you want in 4 mm / 5/32 inch diameter. They have yellow, blue, green, red, black, and white. You can form it a bit with a heat gun and taking your time not to melt it fully or kinking it by trying to bend it too tight. You can make the ends fit tight by heating up right to the melt point and then pushing the end back a bit with the flat blade of a screwdriver to make a small "bulb" at the ends which fit snugly in the rubber connectors. The match in colors is much better than I ever found at the auto parts stores, and the nylon tubing is higher quality - even made in the USA! PM me if you need more info. McMaster Carr has great service too - stuff ships same day most of the time, no questions on returns, etc. They aren't the cheapest place but great / fast service and an amazing inventory makes the slight cost increase worth it.