My old NAPA #7400 for my 69 had a spring inside it. The new one I bought doesn't. Nor do the ones I've looked at from CarQuest and ADvance Auto Parts. My belief is that it's better to have one on this lower radiator hose than not. Are they available from someone?

If there is, I couldnt find one...... Maybe a resto place like Ricks, or Classic has a replacement hose, but none of the local auto part stores had them.....

I took my old hose, cut it in half, removed the spring, cleaner it up real good and put it in my new hose. It was pretty easy.

I couldn't find one with a spring and that was about 2 yrs ago. The old hose wasn't in real bad shape and has the spring, I keep it un the trunk as a spare. The new one with no spring has been fine for 2 years...

my 69 came with an 80's 305 motor. The lower hose has a spring in it. Maybe a place you could look.

I like springs too, but the newer hoses are far more rigid and reinforced than yesteryear.

I tried to collapse one with a highflow electric pump to no avail...not a smiggin of collapse present. Also, the larger core sizes and shear area present less of a static pressure to work against. What this means is that the lower end flows more easily than before which is good.

So, in my opinion a high quality hose likely doesn't need one.