As these old gals get up in age, what's going to start killing them are blown hoses that fry the engine. Don't let this happen to yours, especially if you run it hard or someone else (wifey) drives it also because that's when it will happen per our old friend Mr. Murphy.
In the course of doing my head gaskets, I chose to replace all the heater hoses and did some painstaking looking and trial fitting to find the right stuff. The heater hoses are metric, which is difficult to find unless you're in a good size city. I hit most of the parts stores in town and bought little samples which I brought home and trial fitted. Most were a poor fit. You have two sizes of heater hoses, one is slightly smaller than 5/8" and the other is slightly smaller than 1/2". You need a few feet of the larger size and a foot of the smaller size.
Larger size: I found some Goodyear bulk hose at AutoZone (P/N 65071) that is 5/8" but way tighter than other brand 5/8's so it fits perfectly on the cruiser. That gets you a 6 foot coil - enough for 2 trucks for about $6 - best deal of the project.
Smaller size: For the slightly smaller hoses back against the firewall you'll need to search harder. I bought a hose from an import parts place destined for a BMW that had a long enough straight section to cannibalize. The maker is "Elaplast" from Germany and it's the proper metric size so also an excellent fit. Try a BMW dealer for this hose which is slightly smaller than 1/2" - might be 12mm I.D.? They might carry it in bulk. My local Toyota dealer did not - they replace all hoses with the Toyota part.
Either way, be advised you may have a tough time finding these two hose sizes and the time to discover this is not at 3pm and you're at the 5th store in town and the Cruiser is immobile until someone can special order you bulk hose.
DougM
In the course of doing my head gaskets, I chose to replace all the heater hoses and did some painstaking looking and trial fitting to find the right stuff. The heater hoses are metric, which is difficult to find unless you're in a good size city. I hit most of the parts stores in town and bought little samples which I brought home and trial fitted. Most were a poor fit. You have two sizes of heater hoses, one is slightly smaller than 5/8" and the other is slightly smaller than 1/2". You need a few feet of the larger size and a foot of the smaller size.
Larger size: I found some Goodyear bulk hose at AutoZone (P/N 65071) that is 5/8" but way tighter than other brand 5/8's so it fits perfectly on the cruiser. That gets you a 6 foot coil - enough for 2 trucks for about $6 - best deal of the project.
Smaller size: For the slightly smaller hoses back against the firewall you'll need to search harder. I bought a hose from an import parts place destined for a BMW that had a long enough straight section to cannibalize. The maker is "Elaplast" from Germany and it's the proper metric size so also an excellent fit. Try a BMW dealer for this hose which is slightly smaller than 1/2" - might be 12mm I.D.? They might carry it in bulk. My local Toyota dealer did not - they replace all hoses with the Toyota part.
Either way, be advised you may have a tough time finding these two hose sizes and the time to discover this is not at 3pm and you're at the 5th store in town and the Cruiser is immobile until someone can special order you bulk hose.
DougM