[658Chevy]

Right now on my 454 I've got the PCV valve in passenger valve cover and in the driver's side there's a Mopar-style breather with built-in baffles and mesh. I want to make it a closed system by plumbing the Mopar-style breather to the air cleaner.

Can I use heater hose or is air cleaner hose made differently?

Also, I see in the assembly manual that there's a flame arrestor in the stock air cleaner. I have an after-market open element air cleaner. Do I need to add a flame arrestor, or will the baffled Mopar-style breather in the valve cover do the job of stopping backfire?

 

[donut]

You should be able to use heater hose if you can find it in the right diameter, and can make any bends you need.
Look through the "help" section of your local auto parts store, you may find one hanging that'll fit the bill.

My truck HAD a factory flame arrestor, don't know how many years it's been gone though. IIRC, it was a steel ring between the carb and air filter,
I thought they were to keep a potential backfire from spreading.?
On my setup, the air hose goes from the OEM air cleaner to a valve cover, just a small filter clipped inside the air cleaner.

 

[novaderrik]

just use heater hose... it's designed to survive around gas fumes.

 

[cozmacozmy]

Standard heater hose will rot out due to oil getting on it in short time. Seen it many times. Silicone hose may last longer.

 

[LeoP]

Use the proper vapor hose, not heater hose.

 

[658Chevy]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[novaderrik]

Standard heater hose will rot out due to oil getting on it in short time. Seen it many times. Silicone hose may last longer.

used heater hose in pcv/breather systems many, many times and never had a problem with it rotting away or anything like that... of course i never buy the cheapest bargain heater hose, either..

 

[cozmacozmy]

used heater hose in pcv/breather systems many, many times and never had a problem with it rotting away or anything like that... Of course i never buy the cheapest bargain heater hose, either..

ok

 

[658Chevy]

To be safe, I changed out the heater hose for "crankcase ventilation hose". It looks and feels exactly like heater hose, but the label specifies it for PCV and air cleaner-to-valve cover plumbing. Maybe it's just heater hose repackaged and sold at twice the price.

 

[cozmacozmy]

To be safe, I changed out the heater hose for "crankcase ventilation hose". It looks and feels exactly like heater hose, but the label specifies it for PCV and air cleaner-to-valve cover plumbing. Maybe it's just heater hose repackaged and sold at twice the price.

Oil eats rubber, crankcase hose is designed to withstand oil. Heater hose is made out of rubber...

 

[658Chevy]

Sounds good. Thanks for the info.