87 K10 5.3 SWAP HELP!!!

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roundhouse

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You just remove the AC compressor from the 5.3 and get a shorter belt

If you want to keep the AC in your truck you will need a different compressor anyway , apparently the 5.3 compressor will not work very well with the older trucks ac
We used the side mount ac brackets and vintage air bought from Rutters Rod Shop in NC to put ac in ours
Call them and they can help you with the right bracket

For the PS , unscrew the hose connector fitting from the back of the pumps and swap em


For the fuel
I bought a new 1987 tank and sending unit and pump from rock auto and swapped the pump to a later model one

Using the corvette fuel filter
I also flipped the injection rails on the engine to make the hose connections be on the passenger front of the engine instead of the drivers rear , a little time with a Dremel to remove some cast in plastic brackets from the intake is all you have to do for that

Modifying your own harness is not difficult but it is very time consuming
I did it but for the next swap I’d just buy one already modified but get one from a place that will reprogram your computer too , so if something doesn’t work , the same place modified both and can’t blame someone else for something not working

We got a 5.3 with harness and computer with 170k miles from a 2002 for $550
Replaced the valve cover , oil pan and intake gaskets ,
Then later we found a VIN on the valve cover and ran a carfax and it had 280k on it

But it runs good , easily has twice the power of a old 350
 

beest

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I just rebent my stock high pressure hose for my k10. The ac has its own short belt and tensioner. If you want just leave off the ac comp. And figure it out later after you get it running and driving. Its winter anyway. ;)

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
 

87Hi-v15HND

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I just rebent my stock high pressure hose for my k10. The ac has its own short belt and tensioner. If you want just leave off the ac comp. And figure it out later after you get it running and driving. Its winter anyway. ;)

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Yea that’s my plan, I want to get this engine in and get it running and I can work out the kinks later.
 

87Hi-v15HND

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You just remove the AC compressor from the 5.3 and get a shorter belt

If you want to keep the AC in your truck you will need a different compressor anyway , apparently the 5.3 compressor will not work very well with the older trucks ac
We used the side mount ac brackets and vintage air bought from Rutters Rod Shop in NC to put ac in ours
Call them and they can help you with the right bracket

For the PS , unscrew the hose connector fitting from the back of the pumps and swap em


For the fuel
I bought a new 1987 tank and sending unit and pump from rock auto and swapped the pump to a later model one

Using the corvette fuel filter
I also flipped the injection rails on the engine to make the hose connections be on the passenger front of the engine instead of the drivers rear , a little time with a Dremel to remove some cast in plastic brackets from the intake is all you have to do for that

Modifying your own harness is not difficult but it is very time consuming
I did it but for the next swap I’d just buy one already modified but get one from a place that will reprogram your computer too , so if something doesn’t work , the same place modified both and can’t blame someone else for something not working

We got a 5.3 with harness and computer with 170k miles from a 2002 for $550
Replaced the valve cover , oil pan and intake gaskets ,
Then later we found a VIN on the valve cover and ran a carfax and it had 280k on it

But it runs good , easily has twice the power of a old 350

Yea I didn’t think about swapping the fuel rails like that, great idea though I’ll have to try that out.

I’m gonna go ahead and skip the AC for now and worry about that later closer to summer time, one less head ache to tackle for now.

I have a friend of mine that is going to do most of the wiring, already flashed the ecm and hopefully all checks out once it’s in and running. Will find out soon! Thanks for all the info!
 

Camar068

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You should be able to stop by a local radiator shop and have them weld in a fitting that you can then screw in a barb fitting to run that line to. That's if your radiator has metal tanks on the side.

If it's plastic, you'll need to upgrade the radiator or run an inline adapter that has the fitting on the side of it. Some have also tapped/threaded the water pump.

I've seen some suggesting to use the one out of the donor truck/van. If the donor radiator has oil cooling, I'd grab it in a heart beat. If you buy a radiator, might as well get one that has oil cooling. And on top of that, you might get the larger 454 or diesel radiator (takes a little modifications). Do a search for radiator upgrade.....someone did a write up on it....but don't forget about the steam vent fitting you need.

Take your time reading, especially if you find you need to buy a radiator. If you do, why wouldn't you go bigger with oil cooling if the price difference is less than $100. Keep in mind custom radiators are going to blow away your wallet compared to retrofitting. Not bashing them, just sayin'.

Food for thought.
 

Camar068

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And we have all forgotten (or I missed it) that you can always notch the frame where the hoses connect to the compressor. A lot of people have done this.
 

87Hi-v15HND

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You should be able to stop by a local radiator shop and have them weld in a fitting that you can then screw in a barb fitting to run that line to. That's if your radiator has metal tanks on the side.

If it's plastic, you'll need to upgrade the radiator or run an inline adapter that has the fitting on the side of it. Some have also tapped/threaded the water pump.

I've seen some suggesting to use the one out of the donor truck/van. If the donor radiator has oil cooling, I'd grab it in a heart beat. If you buy a radiator, might as well get one that has oil cooling. And on top of that, you might get the larger 454 or diesel radiator (takes a little modifications). Do a search for radiator upgrade.....someone did a write up on it....but don't forget about the steam vent fitting you need.

Take your time reading, especially if you find you need to buy a radiator. If you do, why wouldn't you go bigger with oil cooling if the price difference is less than $100. Keep in mind custom radiators are going to blow away your wallet compared to retrofitting. Not bashing them, just sayin'.

Food for thought.


Ok I’ll look into it. And yea I’ve seen the custom radiators, anywhere from 600-1000 bucks! No thanks I’ll find one and make it work..
 

87Hi-v15HND

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And we have all forgotten (or I missed it) that you can always notch the frame where the hoses connect to the compressor. A lot of people have done this.

Yea I’ve seen that done too, I’d rather not cut into the frame but if I don’t find a better alternative I will
 

rpcraft

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Here is some starting info from a swapper who has had to redo a few things because of bad advise from some

Dirty dingo mounts will allow you to keep your drivetrain in place but you will most likely have to move the ac bracket and often times you have to notch the front cross member an unsettlingly large amount - There is a company on that facebook page called Tejas Steelworks, they allow for your ac compressor to stay in place but you have to lengthen the rear drive shaft and shorten the front one most likely but that will also depend on what trans you have and what you want to use. I say use his and get a custom rear aluminum driveshaft made anyways when it comes time because the LS motor puts out more than the stock smog 305 or 350 by a long shot and when you start adding up the forces involved and the torque your driveshaft will probably crap the bed. We've been seeing a rash of it happen with the C10 trucks lately. With the Tejas mounts you should be able to use all the Stock LS parts, including exhaust manfifolds, and down pipes for housing the front O2 sensors. You can do a CAI for your MAF sensor and also if you relo the battery you can do the stock airbox. More fo the stock truck parts you can retain means less money spent on your swap. That fellow also sells some good PCM/fuse block mounts and a fan shroud if you want to convert to electric fans (all the cool kids are doing it, and I probably will as well once I get my stuff sorted). The guys name is Scotty, and he has done a number of builds and really gives good advice overall.

Cooling details-
You can use a Spectre cu730 radiator off ebay, amazon, advance auto and it has lines to insert the steam port... Or you can use an old school big block radiator and put your steam line into a cut in adapter that has an inlet for it... (many ways to skin that cat)...

Wiring you can DIY if you are able to read diagrams and are attention detailed. I think the site that can help the DIY portion of that is LS1Tech.com (don't quote me for certain there) If not you can get it done for you for around 300 to 500 bucks and that will usually getting the anti-theft stuff removed out of your PCM and a base tune. I would recomend LSX Specialties because they seem to do quick fast work, and their return product looks exceptional.

Plan on replacing your gas tank to a tbi unit, and getting that matching sending unit with a fuel pump from any era Vortec or LS truck. Also plan on replacing your fuel lines, there are two types of systems, return and returnless.. That'll depend on what motor and setup you get. The TBI tanks have a baffle in them to keep the fuel pump submerged and cool. Some will say run an external pump, but I've seen too many of them fail, and they are annoyingly loud.

Go ahead and plan on getting a transmission and motor, harness, PCM, and all the accessories as one. If you have a 700R4 and plan on keeping it, I really would plan in using the 4l60E. Chances are you will smoke the 700r4. Plan on getting a 4l60E or better yet a 4l80E. if you insist on sticking with your 700R4 then you can go to bowtieoverdrives.com and get a TV cable adapter but its about 180 bucks and that will only work with a drive by cable throttle body. Regardless of your trans choice you will need an adapter for the transmission to your transfer case. Look into advanced adapters. If you had a TH400 then you will need to replace the input shaft on the NP 208 with a 27 spline, vice versa if you had a th350 or 700r4 and are getting a 4l80e. Plan on rebuilding the transfer case to correct that and replace worn parts.. It's just good preventative measure for having to drop it all twice (or more considering your trans choices). On mine the 4l60E was the same length as the 700r4 and I was able to find a 1997 model that had the 4 bolt rear housing so it went straight on to my transfer case adapter, and the driveshafts matched up, along with the shifter linkage, and not having to monkey around with redrilling the trans cross member holes. The catch 22 is if I have to have that trans rebuilt it will probably cost more than a more modern 4l60E, and if I swap it to a rebuilder then I'll have to get a new adapter because of the change in the tailhousing (6 bolts on the newer ones vs 4 on the older ones).

Plan on getting some kind of VSS adapter for your transfer case to provide the PCM a speed signal at the very least. ON mine I have gone with a dakota digital unit that provides an 8k signal to the PCM and then I got a dash unit and reconfigured the wiring out of a 1991 4wd Suburban. It allows you to calibrate the speed with the PCM and has no speed cable. Ultimate in adjustability for tire and gear changes... Some will say you don't need it but when the 4 x4 component comes into play when things don't get the right signals the trans stops shifting out of first and either weird idle problems can pop up.

Those are some rough basics. There's a ton of info on that facebook, after all its for LS swapped square body vehicles. There are lots of generous people that will offer advice (both good and bad) so I would basically figure out what you want out of your truck and make sure when you get advice it is oriented around a 4 x 4 setup, because most guys will mouth off and give 2wd advice that will end up wasting money on parts that won't quite fit (sucks but it happened to me some).

If you want daily driver dependability you can do that and even get your cruise control working (if you have it) and easy to do that part it if you don't have it to be honest.

There are guys who will tell you a swap can be done for 500 dollars. I'd say a more realistic price is around 2K but that will also depend on your ability to DIY, improvise, and what all tools you have to buy (versus what you already own)...

Please feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any questions and I'll do my best to offer the straight shoot. Some things I do not know right off the top of my head because my 1984 Jimmy is at a phase where I could have it running but nothing is painted and its all dirty because I have been doing the swap out of a single apartment garage. I'm about 2 months from my house being finished so I decided to hold off on getting it running and full of fluids, simply so I can break it down, clean it (and anoint my driveway with sanctified GM fluids), and paint all the stuff up nice and neat so I have a good clean starting point. I also want to do up the cab mounts and throw in a 14 bolt in the rear, plus paint that axle and the front axle when I do a 8 lug conversion, so as you can see I figured it was best to leave it undone so I can really make it like new.

:cheers:
 

87Hi-v15HND

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1987
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I wish I had caught you before the dis-information crew gave you a bunch of advice. Check out this facebook group and ask your questions there as well if you have not spent any money yet and before you do. https://www.facebook.com/groups/267895843406925/?ref=bookmarks..

unfortunately i have spent a pretty penny already and it seems a lot of parts i have already purchased are not compatible.. looks like i have some returning to do. I also jumped the gun on most of the items because i was excited and ready to get my hands dirty without doing adequate research. im going to pump the brakes and look deeper into all this stuff.
 

87Hi-v15HND

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1987
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Here is some starting info from a swapper who has had to redo a few things because of bad advise from some

Dirty dingo mounts will allow you to keep your drivetrain in place but you will most likely have to move the ac bracket and often times you have to notch the front cross member an unsettlingly large amount - There is a company on that facebook page called Tejas Steelworks, they allow for your ac compressor to stay in place but you have to lengthen the rear drive shaft and shorten the front one most likely but that will also depend on what trans you have and what you want to use. I say use his and get a custom rear aluminum driveshaft made anyways when it comes time because the LS motor puts out more than the stock smog 305 or 350 by a long shot and when you start adding up the forces involved and the torque your driveshaft will probably crap the bed. We've been seeing a rash of it happen with the C10 trucks lately. With the Tejas mounts you should be able to use all the Stock LS parts, including exhaust manfifolds, and down pipes for housing the front O2 sensors. You can do a CAI for your MAF sensor and also if you relo the battery you can do the stock airbox. More fo the stock truck parts you can retain means less money spent on your swap. That fellow also sells some good PCM/fuse block mounts and a fan shroud if you want to convert to electric fans (all the cool kids are doing it, and I probably will as well once I get my stuff sorted). The guys name is Scotty, and he has done a number of builds and really gives good advice overall.

Cooling details-
You can use a Spectre cu730 radiator off ebay, amazon, advance auto and it has lines to insert the steam port... Or you can use an old school big block radiator and put your steam line into a cut in adapter that has an inlet for it... (many ways to skin that cat)...

Wiring you can DIY if you are able to read diagrams and are attention detailed. I think the site that can help the DIY portion of that is LS1Tech.com (don't quote me for certain there) If not you can get it done for you for around 300 to 500 bucks and that will usually getting the anti-theft stuff removed out of your PCM and a base tune. I would recomend LSX Specialties because they seem to do quick fast work, and their return product looks exceptional.

Plan on replacing your gas tank to a tbi unit, and getting that matching sending unit with a fuel pump from any era Vortec or LS truck. Also plan on replacing your fuel lines, there are two types of systems, return and returnless.. That'll depend on what motor and setup you get. The TBI tanks have a baffle in them to keep the fuel pump submerged and cool. Some will say run an external pump, but I've seen too many of them fail, and they are annoyingly loud.

Go ahead and plan on getting a transmission and motor, harness, PCM, and all the accessories as one. If you have a 700R4 and plan on keeping it, I really would plan in using the 4l60E. Chances are you will smoke the 700r4. Plan on getting a 4l60E or better yet a 4l80E. if you insist on sticking with your 700R4 then you can go to bowtieoverdrives.com and get a TV cable adapter but its about 180 bucks and that will only work with a drive by cable throttle body. Regardless of your trans choice you will need an adapter for the transmission to your transfer case. Look into advanced adapters. If you had a TH400 then you will need to replace the input shaft on the NP 208 with a 27 spline, vice versa if you had a th350 or 700r4 and are getting a 4l80e. Plan on rebuilding the transfer case to correct that and replace worn parts.. It's just good preventative measure for having to drop it all twice (or more considering your trans choices). On mine the 4l60E was the same length as the 700r4 and I was able to find a 1997 model that had the 4 bolt rear housing so it went straight on to my transfer case adapter, and the driveshafts matched up, along with the shifter linkage, and not having to monkey around with redrilling the trans cross member holes. The catch 22 is if I have to have that trans rebuilt it will probably cost more than a more modern 4l60E, and if I swap it to a rebuilder then I'll have to get a new adapter because of the change in the tailhousing (6 bolts on the newer ones vs 4 on the older ones).

Plan on getting some kind of VSS adapter for your transfer case to provide the PCM a speed signal at the very least. ON mine I have gone with a dakota digital unit that provides an 8k signal to the PCM and then I got a dash unit and reconfigured the wiring out of a 1991 4wd Suburban. It allows you to calibrate the speed with the PCM and has no speed cable. Ultimate in adjustability for tire and gear changes... Some will say you don't need it but when the 4 x4 component comes into play when things don't get the right signals the trans stops shifting out of first and either weird idle problems can pop up.

Those are some rough basics. There's a ton of info on that facebook, after all its for LS swapped square body vehicles. There are lots of generous people that will offer advice (both good and bad) so I would basically figure out what you want out of your truck and make sure when you get advice it is oriented around a 4 x 4 setup, because most guys will mouth off and give 2wd advice that will end up wasting money on parts that won't quite fit (sucks but it happened to me some).

If you want daily driver dependability you can do that and even get your cruise control working (if you have it) and easy to do that part it if you don't have it to be honest.

There are guys who will tell you a swap can be done for 500 dollars. I'd say a more realistic price is around 2K but that will also depend on your ability to DIY, improvise, and what all tools you have to buy (versus what you already own)...

Please feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any questions and I'll do my best to offer the straight shoot. Some things I do not know right off the top of my head because my 1984 Jimmy is at a phase where I could have it running but nothing is painted and its all dirty because I have been doing the swap out of a single apartment garage. I'm about 2 months from my house being finished so I decided to hold off on getting it running and full of fluids, simply so I can break it down, clean it (and anoint my driveway with sanctified GM fluids), and paint all the stuff up nice and neat so I have a good clean starting point. I also want to do up the cab mounts and throw in a 14 bolt in the rear, plus paint that axle and the front axle when I do a 8 lug conversion, so as you can see I figured it was best to leave it undone so I can really make it like new.

:cheers:
Thanks for all the info, that was a lot to take in! Definately did not get a lot of this info from others over the past couple weeks. everyone said mount plug and play and it just isn's that simple come to find out! like i said, i am no mechanic but i am determined to figure all of this out picking everyones brains. as long as it is credible info... and it does seem like a lot of c10 kind of info has been sent my way and i never considered 4x4 being an issue..

So i have a 5.3L out of a 2002 suburban that has the drive by cable throttle body. 700r4 trans. my 87 preiously had a stock 305tbi. My truck is currently an hour or so away and im not too sure but i think the transfer case was the NP 208. (havent had the truck long before the 305 took a crap and im drawing blanks here cuz i havent seen it in awhile)

i think im going to go with the dirty dingo mounts and re-locate the compressor later on once it deems necessary (come summer time) i purchased the "transdapt 4562" motor mounts and now looking into it the reveiws suck and im going to return them if i can. i dont have the exhaust manifold so i purchased the swap short tube headers with the o2 sensor ports installed and hopefully from what i have read they will fit. not exactly sure what a "CAI is for the MAF sensor"? but ill definately look into the PCM/fuse block mounts.

i looked into the Spectre cu730 radiator and everyone kept saying it wouldnt fit that it was too tall and bulky... maybe modify the mounting brackets?? i want to install electric fans eventually but for now im going to stick with the stock clutch style mounted fan. ill have to get a buddy of mine to help me out with the wiring here and there and that will be a project when he can get around to it. but with that radiator will i be able to fit a fan shroud with enough room?

as far as the wiring harness goes. i have the harness and it has been chopped already and PCM flashed and a freind of mine is going to help clean it up and wire it up for me. hopefully learn a thing or two during the process so i can take on a project like this on my own whenever i decide to do it again.. if all else fails i will look into getting a harness made, would like to NOT spend the money if i can avoid it. play that one by ear. i would just make this a project truck and take my time but i need my truck on the road right now and i can beef it up later.

for the fuel system i already have the tbi tank and it is a return style as is the 5.3 fuel rail setup i have. the supply is a 3/8 line and the return is 5/16. just have to plumb out what is missing in between and upgrade the fuel pump. i heard the warlboro 255 pump is good (any further insight would be awesome) also heard of swapping the fuel rails so that the lines are directed into the passenger front side of the engine being my fuel lines come up the passenger side of the frame. have to look into fittings and hose that i will need and i think that will be good to go hopefully.

is there any way you can send me the link for the tv cable adapter? (i looked on the site and im not sure which one is the right cable, guessing my stock cable will not work?) i am going to stick with the 700r4 for now, budget build here until i can come up with the money to upgrade (ill be easy on the 700 in the mean time) . im not really sure about the adapter for the transfer case. i ran the same trans and transfer case previously, what is the adapter for? why does the spline have to be changed for? im just curious cuz i can't find any info on that and im trying to learn.

Thank you for all the info and i will take all your advice into consideration when getting advice from others! i can already tell where i have been given the wrong info and i have some things i need to return for sure so i can spend that money else where. sounds like you have nice plans for your truck, ill be sure to pick your brains whenever i get stumped and ill check out the FB page for sure. again thanks! standing by for more info!
 

rpcraft

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Robert
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1985
Truck Model
Jimmy
Engine Size
LS 6.0 364 CID
If you are using the speed engineering polished stainless headers you will probably have to chop the ears off your 700R4 to get the headers around the lower part of the transmission and you wont be able to install a dust shield. Not a show stopper, just harder to do with the transmission in the truck.

The walbro 255 is a good pump and highly recommended but supposedly there is rash of fake chinese repro ones going around that are failure prone.

I have my original big block radiator so I am going to test that out first before spending money on something I don't need. Already done that on a few other items like you mentioned, but my friend that does Ls swaps a lot swears by that radiator so I am not sure where others run into that issue. He's done 2wd trucks mostly but I've never noticed a difference between the front radiator mounts with the 4 x 4 setups either, but then again all I have ever really paid close attention to is k5's so maybe there is a slight difference somewhere. Like you I am going to start with the OEM clutch fan and am just going to stick with the normal fan shroud. I know there is a part # for a replacement fan that has a longer hex piece, to better place the fan in the shroud, but I can not recall it. From what I was told it comes off a 4.8 Dodge magnum trucks, but I have yet to find one in a pick-n-pull to double check, ironically. All I could find was stuff with pulled engines last time I had a chance to check. I know you can look at rockauto and on those items they usually have a hayden part # and you can take that and look at the Hayden website and it shows you the exact specs on the fan clutch. I just have not gotten around to doing it yet because the clutch fan is pretty easy to pop off if you know the right technique, lol

I also plan on doing a high mount air compressor later. ICT billet sells a bracket, as well as Vintage air (which I'll be going with for AC after I get everyrhing basically installed and test fired and running). I went with the Dirty Dingo mounts and they put everything in the exactly right place but the one thing I would advise is when you install them put a 1/4 inch worth of spacers under your motor mounts on the truck to lift up the motor and eliminate any need to notch your front cross member. I notched mine first and then later realized spacing the motor mounts up probably would have been a far better solution and once I pull everything to clean it up I am going to probably replace the cross member with a custom tube setup anyways so it'll be a moot point.

The MAF (mass air flow) sensor goes on the air inlet tube between the air filter box and the throttle body and it essentially controls throttle input vs road speed and engine intake speed (thats a semplified explanation) and most all of the other engine controls depend on it in stock trim. I've seen some folks use the stock air cleaner and relocate their battery to the drivers side, but some folks get a Cold Air Intake and relocate the MAf to it. It kind of just depends on how many stock parts you have and how good you are at modifying things, like the original battery tray.
 

roundhouse

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Engine Size
350
Reading this brings back a lot of stuff I had to do

I had to put spacers under the dingo motor mounts to raise the oil pan up a little
I used rubber and steel pads made for mounting Hvac units to concrete floors

I used late model Camaro exhaust manifolds and they fit fine
The rearmost exhaust manifold bolts on the driver side of the LS engine will probably break off when you try to remove them , GM used glue on the two rear ones for some reason

I used the stock K10 radiator that was already in the truck and the stock fan that came on the LS motor , I didn’t see any need to spend more money and time on electric fans

The ac compressor mount I used was the side mount one
There is also a top mount one for using in hot rods with tall skinny engine bays

I didn’t want to notch the frame and if you leave the ac compressor in the stock LS position you can’t get to any of the hose connections
 

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