I had the same issue when i replaced my rad with that same cold case. I ended up shaping the hose over a bottle for like a week to shape it a little wider. Applied alot of lube, jammed her on and tightened her up. Haven't had an issue yet. Been about a year and a half.
Yeah, that’s basically what I just did- was just waiting to post until I had everything back together in one piece.
Basically, when I got Cold Case on the phone, they insisted that if I found just the right year, with a big block and a HD radiator, that it would have a 1.75 both ends. Yeah, I think that’s just patently false. It’s my suspicion that they are thinking of 70-72 when the 402 had 1 3/4 on one end and 1 7/8 on the other.
I took a generic hose home from O’Reillys and boiled a small pot of water, and warmed the end for about four minutes. Then, I walked directly out to the garage and worked it onto the old water pump I had on the work bench, and let it cool for an hour. Pulled it back off, reversed it back to normal and it slid on without too much of a fight.
I did order a 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 adapter off the jungle website, but I’ve abandoned that idea since the real estate at the bottom radiator outlet near the frame is problematic.
I do have a small narrowing on one of the bends where it twists down, so the fit isn’t perfect how it’s molded. I’m just going to watch it when I get it started and rev it to make sure it doesn’t collapse.
It’s always fun trying to figure out something that a manufacturer got a little wrong.
Ok, back to the coffee- just waiting for the wife to wake up so we can open presents.
