push lock vacuum lines

[chuck jacobs]

I have a cruz performance vacuum line push lock kit that i am gonna install on a new build. Does anyone have any pics of there push lock setup so i can get some ideas as to how i install mine? Thanks

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

I have seen these used for years. And so many have had these cool little fittings and set-ups on their Turbo Buick. But I never understood it all. I mean.....For what? Not to bash them or anything like that. I like a lot of cool unnecessary do-dads too. But I'm just saying.

My standard rubber vacuum/boost lines probably live in one the most harsh environments of any Turbo Buick I know. And I have never had a single burn, leak, crack, or collapse. And the best part is they are cheap, flexible, easy to cut off and then just go into the stock box of pieces on the garage shelf and replace as necessary.

Interested to see further comments ahead.

 

[1KWIKSIX]

One reason I made this change was to clean up the engine bay.
Too much clutter going on in my opinion and getting rid of the vacuum block located on top of the throttle body certainly cleans thing up.
I’m very happy with the push lock fittings and vacuum lines .
I’m going to drill and tap my intake manifold and get rid of the 1/2” spacer over the winter. The extra 1/2” height of the spacer has my 3” up pipe contacting the hood pad.

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

One reason I made this change was to clean up the engine bay.
Too much clutter going on in my opinion and getting rid of the vacuum block located on top of the throttle body certainly cleans thing up.
I’m very happy with the push lock fittings and vacuum lines .
I’m going to drill and tap my intake manifold and get rid of the 1/2” spacer over the winter. The extra 1/2” height of the spacer has my 3” up pipe contacting the hood pad.

Or you could drill and tap the spacer and thread in some barb fittings. Back in the day, mine was set-up in this manner. Really cleaned things up.

 

[Turbo6inKY]

I have seen these used for years. And so many have had these cool little fittings and set-ups on their Turbo Buick. But I never understood it all. I mean.....For what? Not to bash them or anything like that. I like a lot of cool unnecessary do-dads too. But I'm just saying.

My standard rubber vacuum/boost lines probably live in one the most harsh environments of any Turbo Buick I know. And I have never had a single burn, leak, crack, or collapse. And the best part is they are cheap, flexible, easy to cut off and then just go into the stock box of pieces on the garage shelf and replace as necessary.

Interested to see further comments ahead.

I started having problems with vacuum lines blowing off the fittings right after I bought the car. I had many instances where it'd be running odd, I'd pop the hood, and the line to the fuel pressure regulator had separated itself from the nipple. Several times the entire bunch had decided to separate themselves from the junction block on top of the throttle body. I ran for years with a massive zip tie holding that mess in place. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. Maybe if you're only running 14psi it'll be fine, but if you turn it up, some kind of positive retention mechanism has to be on any line attached to manifold pressure.

I'll happily pit my engine by environment against anybody's in terms of harshness. I've melted everything. But I haven't had a line come off a connection.

Push-loc aside, if you aren't clamping anything attached to the manifold, you're asking for a hose to pop off a nipple and a bad day.

 

[1KWIKSIX]

Or you could drill and tap the spacer and thread in some barb fittings. Back in the day, mine was set-up in this manner. Really cleaned things up.

Yup, my 1/2" spacer came tapped for the push lok fittings from Don Cruz

 

[Grumpy]

Push-loc aside, if you aren't clamping anything attached to the manifold, you're asking for a hose to pop off a nipple and a bad day.

Cheap insurance.

 

[grass doctor]

I started having problems with vacuum lines blowing off the fittings right after I bought the car. I had many instances where it'd be running odd, I'd pop the hood, and the line to the fuel pressure regulator had separated itself from the nipple. Several times the entire bunch had decided to separate themselves from the junction block on top of the throttle body. I ran for years with a massive zip tie holding that mess in place. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. Maybe if you're only running 14psi it'll be fine, but if you turn it up, some kind of positive retention mechanism has to be on any line attached to manifold pressure.

I'll happily pit my engine by environment against anybody's in terms of harshness. I've melted everything. But I haven't had a line come off a connection.

Push-loc aside, if you aren't clamping anything attached to the manifold, you're asking for a hose to pop off a nipple and a bad day.

ive had that happen, scared the ...t out of me, was a loud pop thought i blew something up .. but was because the line on the boost solenoid came off and over boosted i guess ... it popped the fuel reg line off and acouple others .. now most are zipped tied . one of my first lessons learned

 

[1KWIKSIX]

additionally, a lil shot of your wife' aerosol hair spray will help too

 

[bison]

I started having problems with vacuum lines blowing off the fittings right after I bought the car. I had many instances where it'd be running odd, I'd pop the hood, and the line to the fuel pressure regulator had separated itself from the nipple. Several times the entire bunch had decided to separate themselves from the junction block on top of the throttle body. I ran for years with a massive zip tie holding that mess in place. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. Maybe if you're only running 14psi it'll be fine, but if you turn it up, some kind of positive retention mechanism has to be on any line attached to manifold pressure.

I'll happily pit my engine by environment against anybody's in terms of harshness. I've melted everything. But I haven't had a line come off a connection.

Push-loc aside, if you aren't clamping anything attached to the manifold, you're asking for a hose to pop off a nipple and a bad day.

The only time that happens is when some replaces the hoses and uses inadequate hose and retention. The stock s to do was really durable. Cars come through my shop with the 30 year old stuff and it’s still good. The problems start once someone has their hands on it. Very rare to see one that someone installed and it’s better than the stock one was. The vacuum blocks availble all leak a lot and the hoses that come with them are crap compared to what GM used on the oem stuff. A fuel pressure signal failure on a high output engine will cause catastrophic damage in a couple seconds. Why risk it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

I don't know. I still think they are cool and all, but I believe just some simple conscientious practices when routing, connecting, and securing vacuum lines is all you will ever need.

I'm actually not even convinced that all those push-lock connections will never leak. I think I have more faith in the rubber.

I guess I was expecting a more convincing comment from someone supporting their use.

I'll happily pit my engine by environment against anybody's in terms of harshness. I've melted everything.

I'll take you up on that. It's nothing to brag about, but my engine compartment is where Satan comes when he's cold.

 

[earlbrown]

Never had one failure with plain ole vacuum line held with two loops of safety wire.

Since I don't roadrace anymore, one can is a lifetime supply, and I keep a box in my shop that has ever scrap of line I own.

Sounds simple, but anytime I'm under a hood it's literally seconds to replace old lines and be done with it. Nothing to order and no waiting on a package.

 

[Pronto]

How are people dealing with the vacuum block rubbing the hood liner when using the Precision upper plenum? I would like to keep the stock set up if possible but don't want my hood liner to look mutilated. The liner is starting to fail now and I don't want to spend $$ on a replacement just to have it get destroyed. I don't believe the push lock style fittings seal well enough...

 

[Turbo6inKY]

How are people dealing with the vacuum block rubbing the hood liner when using the Precision upper plenum? I would like to keep the stock set up if possible but don't want my hood liner to look mutilated. The liner is starting to fail now and I don't want to spend $$ on a replacement just to have it get destroyed. I don't believe the push lock style fittings seal well enough...

For that issue, you'll have to get rid of the vacuum block.

As for pushloc not sealing, what's led you to that conclusion? They're rated to 250psi. The ones I bought are quit air-tight. Perhaps you dealt with some chinese fittings? Or once you push-pulled them enough times they'll booger up the hose end and you have to trim it.

 

[asloan5]

I did mine years ago. Went to a Freightliner tractor trailer dealer and purchased Eaton brand hardware and have had no issues in over 10 years.

 

[bison]

How are people dealing with the vacuum block rubbing the hood liner when using the Precision upper plenum? I would like to keep the stock set up if possible but don't want my hood liner to look mutilated. The liner is starting to fail now and I don't want to spend $$ on a replacement just to have it get destroyed. I don't believe the push lock style fittings seal well enough...

Replace the body mounts and use a different plenum


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pronto]

My body mounts are all replaced and I have hr engine mounts. I'm going to a 4" intake pipe and am looking for clearance. I have a Precision slic and a 3" up pipe so I'm stuck with either a spacer or Precision upper plenum. I've got the plenum already. With a spare intake I'll be mocking up different ideas for routing, etc. I also need to verify clearances on my current setup. I'm not opposed to air brake lines and fittings since they are well trusted. I'm also not ruling out AN line or hardlines that I can flair for AN fittings. Luckily I've searched pictures b/f the meltdown and have seen a few different solutions. I understand the pushlock fittings are easy. I'm just not sold on them, at least not the plastic ones. I've seen some ss ones but haven't further examined them.

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

My body mounts are all replaced and I have hr engine mounts. I'm going to a 4" intake pipe and am looking for clearance. I have a Precision slic and a 3" up pipe so I'm stuck with either a spacer or Precision upper plenum. I've got the plenum already. With a spare intake I'll be mocking up different ideas for routing, etc. I also need to verify clearances on my current setup. I'm not opposed to air brake lines and fittings since they are well trusted. I'm also not ruling out AN line or hardlines that I can flair for AN fittings. Luckily I've searched pictures b/f the meltdown and have seen a few different solutions. I understand the pushlock fittings are easy. I'm just not sold on them, at least not the plastic ones. I've seen some ss ones but haven't further examined them.

If you have the patience of a saint, you can nicely and professionally bend up some hard line (aluminum is easy) and make up all your lines to look like a work of art. You could use vacuum line as couplers or flare fittings.

But definitely just another another way to complicate some simple vacuum line routing. Many options. I stick to the rubber stuff.

I basically share the same school of thought as erlbrown above.

 

[Pronto]

I am not proficient at bending lines ala Coach's ss lines. They are way out of my skills, . The Precision upper I have happens to have a hole that's capped that was for the air temp sensor. It's on the drivers side and from just looking at everything, a vacuum block would fit nicely on the passenger side of the plenum. I was toying with the idea of bending a line going around the back of the plenum to the block. I can handle something like that. From the block I would need: PCV, MAP, FPR, second pump Hobbs switch, HVAC. I haven't decided whether to eliminate the charcoal canister vacuum setup. I don't mind mimicing the stock routing to a degree ie: metal line going from a nipple on the vacuum block going to the MAP and 2 around the front to the FPR and HVAC/Hobbs which again I think I could handle. What I don't want is a bunch of nylon or rubber lines running all over the place with wide bends or fittings looking like they were just thown on.