Hardest part in doing the Climate Control conversion....

XR Martin · 19-09-2005, 12:27 AM

Is pulling the heater hose clamps off

Spent a couple of hours on it today and could only get one off, even tried cutting one of them with the dremel but there just isnt the room back there.

Those stupid spring hose clamps are the worst design ever.
Why couldnt Ford spend 20cents extra and use those better clamps, the ones with the screw/socket head ?

Everything was fairly plain sailing up until this point....

Any hints? I can get the clamps open, but pulling them off is takes so much freakin effort.

(please dont move this thread to a technical section, as this is just a whinge....)

Rmyers · 19-09-2005, 05:41 AM

Are you trying to pull the heater hose off at the same time as your opening the clamp? If so, the better thing to do is open the clamp and slide it further down the hose so it is no longer grabbing the fitting, and then tackling the even harder job of pulling the hoses off.

That's the only advise i can really give ya as there's no really any other way to do it...

INJECTED_250 · 19-09-2005, 09:13 AM

Use Vise grips.. to hold the clamp open... If u break the small TAb of first that lets u clamp them right open then will slide of easly.. Use a RAZOR blade on te hoses if there realy tight.... probly factory hoses any way and need replacing

Paris Hilton · 19-09-2005, 03:45 PM

heh, i didn't need to pull anything out to do mine, all i did was made a hole in the existing heaterbox for the sensor down near the actual fan, and pulled the pully system out and stuck the blend control motor and stick thing on it, it all fit in perfect...have fun getting the holes for the blend control motor in there though, there is pretty much 1mm of space there to get in to...mine is just duct taped in for the moment, true eseries stylez...

Damo · 19-09-2005, 09:13 PM

Those spring clamp things are soo retarded.

fairmont1998 · 19-09-2005, 10:41 PM

There is a special type of plier for those clamps. They come off easy as with them. I have a set. Just rubbing it in ;)

XR Martin · 20-09-2005, 02:27 AM

Yeah I can get the clamp open, but it just wont slide off the hose, and when it looks like im getting somewhere, it falls back into its groove in the hose that its been sitting in for the last 12 years.

Slection, yeah I couldnt see how I could mount the blend door motor on the heaterbox while in the car without doing something seriously dodgy, so reluctantly im pulling out the whole thing.