First Reproduction of White Stripe Vacuum Advance Hose
Guilty Your Honor.
I am responsible.
Please forgive me.
There was an ncrs meet held in Southbury, CT in the 1980's I don't remember the exact date. Some may remember it was the meet where Vinny Giaquinto went ballistic because the trunk mat on his 62 Fawn Beige F.I. (supposedly Duntov ex-company car driver) was removed & supposedly stepped on & the paint cracked - revealing a different color than Fawn Beige. Uh Oh! He appealed & convinced the ncrs Black Hats that he should not be penalized for the mishap or different color. (Later Vinny to a real prison for stealing from AMEX to afford his car hobby. The only thing phonier than Vinny was his toupee.)
Anyway, however there was a very low mileage 1963 in attendance, supposedly owned by a Physician (a real one) who bought two 1963's and put one away. It bore a WHITE stripe vacuum advance hose. Your truly noted this mundane addition & was the first to begin marketing this infamous reproduction product. Note this was well before your truly was also the first to begin marketing the 1968-1982 headlamp & wiper door vacuum hose kit which also use a similarly sized White stripe hose.
Years later an ncrs member named Sparky, proffered that this aberration was owner inspired & probably due to someone taking a 1968-1982 White stripe hose to replace the plain Black hose. I suppose anything could have happened to this < 5000 mile Corvette. Thereafter there has been a controversy.
I will submit that group 2.420 is GM's spec for the distributor vacuum advance hose. Following are some GM part numbers from Parts & Accessories #30 manuals which in the 1960s included what today is a stand alone separate book now know as a Standard Parts Book. In these books are the listings for bolts, nut, screws, washers, fittings - including in Group 8.962 - Rubber Hose.
Munch on these entries:
1938-1964 P&A 30 page 861 Group 2.420
- p/n 3714338 5/32 x 11/32 x 20" OL Gas Oil Resistant
- p/n 3840486 5/32 x 11/32 x 5" OL Hypalon White Stripe
1938-1966 P&A 30 page 1076 Group 2.420
- p/n 3814338 5/32 x 11/32 x 20" OL Hypalon White Stripe
Therefore one can assume either the earlier 1938-1964 book neglected to mention White stripe on one of the only 2 hoses listed in Group 2.420 - or by the time the 1938-1966 book arrived the hose with the same p/n had a White stripe added. Note that the 1938-1963 P&A 30 book does not include the Group 8.962 for Rubber Hose. Now none of this proves that any of the Corvette had a White stripe hose however it does indicate that a White stripe vacuum advance hose was sold in service and there is no other 5/32 x 11/32 hose listed as a replacement in Group 2.420. I guess you were out of luck if you wanted to purchase a Black hose sans stripe. Boo Hoo.
If one Googles the these p/n GM wiki lists numerous supersessions. January 1965 says p/n 3840486 use p/n 3814338. More confusing - p/n 3814338 replaced by p/n 3840486 in the same January 1965 book. There are other replacements and supersessions in later 1970s books, however these other p/n just muddy the issue.
I throw myself on the mercy of the ncrs Black Hats and regretfully all others supplying this same repro part soon emulated yours truly & followed with a similar repro White stripe hose. Some brouhaha eh? PS: Right after this White stripe repro was introduced, Frank Aveni (RIP - a Connecticut ncrs Black Hat) told me the stripe was too wide for 1967. And Jerry Kohn (RIP) who won a 1962 Corvette at Carlisle told me - are you ready - it had a White stripe also. Henceforth my 63 & 67 will each bear a vacuum advance hose but only half will bear a White stripe. That way no matter how you look at - its half korrect and half inkorrect. Phew, glad I got this off my chest.
Below 1938-1964 P&A 30
Below 1938-1966 P&A 30
more White vacuum hose in 1968