i searched before i installed mine and couldnt turn anything up, so heres the scoop on the coolant tubes. i wasnt expecting nearly as good of quality as what they are, so far all the reproduction parts ive bought have been close, but not quite the same. not the case here, these are far superior to oem. the 304 stainless isnt magnetic, so they should hold up much longer. the wall thickness is about double what stock was, and the mandrel bends were a perfect match
my only gripe about them is that they have the heater hose return nipple on them, which is fine if you have an 87, but i have an 86. they send a cheesy "made in china" vacuum plug that youre supposed to use to cap it off, which was just a failure waiting to happen in my opinion. before i installed, i had that nipple tig welded shut. its a good thing i did because when i installed in the car it was practically right on top of my fierostore reproduction brake line
as far as install goes, the passenger side is a piece of cake. remove the front tub and the old one comes right out and the new slips right in. the drivers side was not so easy. i cut the old coolant tube because it was junk anyway, but i really didnt want to have to drop the entire front crossmember. to install the drivers side tube, you need to remove front tub, separate the lower ball joint from the spindle and let the control arm all the way down. also have to remove the front left brake hard line and you can maneuver the new tube into place. i suspect that if you had a lift you could remove the old tube in the same fashion without cutting it, but its just not possible with the car on jackstands.
to sum it up, its definitely a good reproduction and im glad they started making them.
