Hot Rods Dress up for Vintage Air firewall

Has anyone found a way to address the hideous look of the Vintage Air and Heater Hoses running through the firewall. I hate what I have now. I’m grateful for the support and suggestions.
Thank you!!

 

Stuff like that is tough. I find it is sometimes best to not even try. Chrome, plastic, split loom cones to mind. Egads! I didn’t put heat and air in my roadster just to keep the firewall clean. You already have it so own it. Lose the house clamp and install fittings and crimped barbs. Then wrap up the bundle in tan header wrap and see what it looks like. Just an idea

 

I routed mine through the floor of my 49 Buick. It's hidden behind the kick panel. Probably wouldn't work on a smaller car, however. There is also the option to put one of the bulkheads that VintageAir sells.

 

Difficult, on the other hand it needs to be something you can access. I used a repop of the factory heater delete plate on my ‘bird. Backed it up with a stiffer structural plate, used bulkhead fitting. A/C and heater hoses. Then the cheap screw in the hose holder rusted. Not surprised in Seattle.

 

You have 4 big hoses for function. They are black so they aren't obnoxious. There isn't much else to do and keep them. You could have them run out the floor and along the frame, tucked down more, but this will intrude into floor foot room and be subject to more road hazards and grime. Not much else can be done unless you want to fabricate a big cover that looks like the tri five ducts, and I don't think they look great either.

 

Close the hood, they disappear!

 

If they had 90-degree elbows on the engine side of the firewall, you could fab up a cover to hide the really ugly stuff.

 

Can’t see it when you’re driving the shit outta it!!

You are driving the shit outta it????!!!!!!!

 

Luckily for me I build cars just for me to drive so I don’t stress about that stuff, if it’s a show car I understand but I think @Bandit Billy nailed it, own them, love them, embrace them.

 

You didn't build it to sit in the garage and be looked at.
You built it to drive it and be comfortable while doing so!
Enjoy the heck out of it, and do it in comfort!
KK

 

Jim’s got it!

 

On my Deuce, the hoses are on the inside of the frame rail and enter the interior down low, behind the kick panel.

It was a good plan and is fairly invisible.

Here's the right side of the firewall:

 

Ben

 

Perhaps you could at least trim the length of that top clamp so there's not a tail hanging out and rotate it so you don't see the screw housing.

 

Modify an old fire wall mounted heater/blower motor housing to camo it

we would order extra hose and mount the hoses lower or even up from the bottom of the firewall.
Sometimes route them on the other side of the inner fender

 

I'm sorry, I don't see the problem. I do believe I'd get rid of the Ty rap and use some heater hose separators instead.

 

I owned my 32 for over 30 years , could not cut up firewall . Finally I installed a vintage heater , best thing I have done to it in years . It has rubber hose and correct size worm clamps . Don’t sweat the small stuff . Don’t and billet to a real hot rod

 

I ran the heat and high side through the passenger side, low side out the drivers side. No hoses crossing the engine, compressor under the alternator out of sight, hoses are the only giveaway till look down at the frame or through the grill.

 

29 A cabriolet, hoses from heater were routed to driver’s side where they connected to cooling system for four banger. No AC.

 

Yeah the clamps are going. Thanks

 

Nice suggestion, thank you.

 

Looks clean and sweet. Thx

 

Thanks Rod

 

Just about done.

 

Squirrel, Your a genius! Thanks

 

heh...I have the same problem with my 59 Chevy truck after I put AC on it. It's ugly under the hood now.

 

I'm easily offended by zip ties and graphics stenciled end-to-end on hoses. Your tastes may differ.
Here's a solution I've used more than once when faced with something that jangles my ugly detector and I wish it would go away. The first instinct is to shove it in the background somehow, but a lot of times that won't work. It sounds counterintuitive but often making the ugly patch a feature and bringing it to the foreground has worked for me.
When I first looked at your photos, I basically saw a bundle....... and I thought, 'why not try a "lace cable harness?", but scale up the cord size a little bit. Some of you might think it's an off the wall idea...... and you might be right. I'm just tossing it out as a suggestion

http://www.dairiki.org/hammond/cable-lacing-howto/

 

They make reduced diameter/thinner wall hose for A/C systems. Helps reduce the bulk.