Has anyone purchased one of those smooth silicone airbridge couplers? The one I purchased from a well known vendor seemed a little "used". The one end had an irregular cut to it. Is it supposed to be that way?

 

send it back

 

I did send it back. They said that's the way it's supposed to be and if they sent me a replacement it would look the same way. This is a pretty big, well known corvette parts vendor. Looks like poor craftsmanship to me.

 

i could see if it was cut on an angle if the cut was straight, but that is definitely not, i bought mine from pep boys in the import section it was spector i think. it was a nice straight cut and its tapered, it fits tight& its black

 

I thought the cut angle too severe. I was concerned about leakage. My choice according to the vendor is accepting a replacement, which they already said will look the same, or take a credit.

 

Maybe you should have contacted them with your concerns first, then try installing it, maybe it would have worked .....

Sometimes what doesn't look right, is

 

I didn't mention this in my original post but the coupler clearly had been used. It had residue on it where the breather tube connects. I was expecting a new item. It just didn't look right.

 

maybe the new one will work, if it doesn't the pep boys one was 15 bucks

 

If you are replacing the flexible bellows (accordian looking hose) with a straight hose, it WILL require an angled cut to fit.

Just look at the misalignment/offset from the MAF sensor to the throttle body. A square cut, straight hose will not fit without an angled cut to it unless it's stretched or pulled out of shape.

This should be fairly obvious.

If you don't want the hose you bought, send it to me and I'll show you how to make it work.

 

I've considered getting a straight coupler, still have the factory/stock bellows/accordion style one on there.

 

What brand clamp was it? Most the high end clamps are manually hand made... not by machines.

Even IF it was a used hose it is still as good as new IMO... Sometimes people will purchase a part, install it and then decide they no longer want it for what ever reason and return it. It may have been just installed but not "USED". I do agree that we all intend to get a "BRAND NEW" product when we order but you would be surprised at how many "BRAND NEW" products we buy have been in someone's hands and installed only to be returned.

Does it mount with enough Clamping surface? If there is not enough room for the clamp to clamp onto then YES it is in fact defective... If the clamp does have enough materiel to clamp... then in my opinion its perfectly fine.

To me that cut does look intentional as its supposed to be. These things are HAND MADE... they wrap everything around a large tube and heat it to shape... Then they CUT them... BY HAND... so the clamp you could be dirty because it was handled, cut, altered by the manufacture. So this may be why the chop does not look perfect.

Heck If its a cosmetic thing... just trim the high end down to match the low end...

Hope your able to get it figured out... Good luck.

SPEED SAFE, NICK

 

Aside from looks is there any benefit to this at all?

 

In theory there should be, I mean typically air will flow better/more quickly over a smooth surface than a jagged one but I don't know if it's ever actually been definitively proven.

 

Yeah.. Air Flow Dynamics kinda sums it all up... Anytime you remove restrictions or turbulence from the air stream you will increase flow. Cold, unrestricted, non-turbulent air will make the most power.

That one coupler all by itself may not make a very measurable gain without other supporting mods BUT the fact is that they ALL add up in the end.

SPEED SAFE, NICK

 

anyone know the OD of the MAF and TB off hand?

 

I am a distributor of Purosil silicone hoses, the hose you have is wrapped on a mandrel on a lathe and then cut apart into sections, usually 12 at a time for a step like that. Anyway the cut would be nice and straight, now given the fact that the throttle body is on a slight angle it looks like the vendor did a crappy job of cutting the hose to fit the degree of the throttle body, had to do the same with the hose that came with my Vararam. Now after dealing with silicone hose for the past 7 or so years I will add that it is a pain to cut nicely however there are tricks to that to. I think the hose you got was correct just cut poorly, you have plenty of room left to clean it up, use tape as a guide and a really sharp razor knife and go slow. If you want a straight cut push the hose over the correct size tube so the fit is tight, slide the blade in straight then push the hose back down the tube so the blade is sitting on the edge of the tubing then drag the blade around the cut line using the tubing as a guide, perfect cut every other time .

 

I have done this on both C6's. I bought a 4" x 10" black silicone hose from Ebay for $35 (IIRC) and cut it into 2 sections. It goes right over the Vararam and right over the throttle body. It fits the maf perectly on the back side and it goes over the body of the maf on the front, works perfect, looks great and is as smooth as you can get it

 

Looks nice and clean, can you please post which hose to buy, or a link to the vendor

Fred

 

I have one, works fine. Same bevel as you had.

 

Here you go, exact same one I have.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OBX-Silicone...36d571&vxp=mtr