Thread: stainless radiator lines, what looks better

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I have the braided fuel lines and look good. On another car I have the braided sleeves ("the cheesy" ones) and they have held up well over the past 15 years but they tend to get dirty (grease and such) and need to be changed out periodically. That in itself is a pain in the arse.

If you like the braided look get the factory braided ones and by pass the DIY's. As for using Cool Flex it depends. If you are building a streetrod or muscle car, Cool Flex works well. If you are building an old school hotrod or rat rod, it don't work at all. Stay with plain black rubber hoses. My streetrod has Cool Flex, my 57 kustom has braided.

Cool Flex hoses are made of copper not stainless steel like many of the copy cats. I think the Cool Flex hoses are better than the stainless variety, but that's just my opinion.

And also, regardless if you get Cool Flex or a similar product, don't forget to let the coolant get cool before working on the engine. Those hoses can burn the heck out of your body parts, just like getting into a flame.