Engine Compartment Wiring Routing

[mikester]

That's what I figured. I have seen them on newer 90's cars. I'll find some. Thx.

This is an easy fix. Find a G body at the junk yard that still has the AC in it. Get the plastic lines fron the INSIDE ! Theyre usually in pretty good shape. Cut them right at the firewall behind the glovebox. You have to check the ends that go on the actuators. Theres two sizes. Ones larger than the other. I did this. I know it for a fact. Lines the same size, the ends are different.
After you get some decent soft line cut the dried out brittle ones off your car about 3-4" out from the firewall on the outside. You need to go to a lawnmower repair shop and get gas line for a chain saw or blower. You'll need to match the inside diameter of the gas line to the outside of the vac line. Slip the two ends in and put a little dab of super glue on the splices. Done. I had to do it inside and out on the wagon and it works fine.

 

[SS_Malibu]

I thought of something like that already. I do like your idea better. I think my inside is ok. Finding the Gbody in the wrecking yard here is a little easier said than done however, when I was looking for something for our Cavalier, I did notice those same plastic vacuum lines on a 90's Celebrity. Just didn't take the time to get them.
Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna do it like you did.

 

[abbey castro]

I had to use plastic line like mikester says. I still used parts of the original lines for the rubber connection points. I'm still looking for a set of the original colors, never give up looking for that elusive item!

 

[MrSony]

I snagged the lines off of the car I got my ac box from, much to the junkyard owners surprise.
"How the hell did you get that out of there?"
Connected them where necessary with vacuum line with the same ID as the plastic od.

 

[mikester]

I thought of something like that already. I do like your idea better. I think my inside is ok. Finding the Gbody in the wrecking yard here is a little easier said than done however, when I was looking for something for our Cavalier, I did notice those same plastic vacuum lines on a 90's Celebrity. Just didn't take the time to get them.
Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna do it like you did.

I even bought some black vacuum tubing and tried to paint it gray with SEM Color Coat. Didnt stick to the tubing even though I used adhesion promoter. I found decent soft tubing in a mid-late 80s Cutlass sedan.

 

[MrSony]

Usually the tubing inside the car behind the dash is ok. The car I got my box from was so rotten and beat up I peeled the fender off with my hands and the box and lines were mint as could be.

 

[57 Handyman]

Unless you want to make everything look original and stock, the easiest way to fix/replace the deteriorated plastic tubing problem is to substitute them with black plastic tubing used for air shocks and airbags. This type of tubing is readily available at NAPA. What works is to replace a lot of the brittle plastic with new tubing but keep some of the original, colored tube at the ends where they connect with devices/controls. This approach is important so you can differentiate them for tracing and troubleshooting purposes. To connect the old-to-new tubing, I simply used rubber vacuum hose, also available at NAPA or most auto parts stores.

Also, while you are at it, this is a good time to test the whole AC vacuum system to make sure controls and actuators are functioning properly. I used an AC vacuum pump with a vacuum tester attached to simulate engine vacuum.

 

[SS_Malibu]

I like that idea. I don't necessarily care about keeping thing original. I'm more concerned about keeping it "looking factory" had they used good stuff.