105 Breather Hose Substitute
Tired of those gnarly, cracked rubber hoses that runs between the valve cover and the aluminum plenum on your weber-carburetted 1600? Though I've never bothered to attempt to source it through Alfa, I'm pretty certain it's longtime NLA. You can make a very respectable replacement, however, with an aprox 2" length of 3/4" heater hose for the short section and a piece of radiator hose, 3/4" ID, with a 90 degree elbow for the longer part -- the stuff is sold as "Radiator Bypass Hose."

Note that the breather hose assembly for the 1600 came in two flavors: as usual, one for the US and another for everywhere else. The US spec hose has a screen (or "VALVE, backfire," according to the parts manual) installed inline with the hose in two pieces. The Europe-spec screen is installed in the plenum cover proper, with a longer, one piece hose. What possible difference this could make as to the function of the thing escapes me -- theories welcomed. Anyway, in my experience you're as likely to encounter one as the other .

A tip for cutting hose neat 'n' square: drill a hole thru 2" wood stock (i.e. 2"x4") the same diameter as the O.D. of the hose or tubing. Use a drill press to keep things square. Mark the length to be cut, then insert the hose to the mark. Use the wood as a guide to accurately mark the circle to cut. To make the mark itself, use a light colored pencil such as an artists' Prismacolor(tm). Simply cut along the line, using a utility knife (use a sharp blade, please), rolling the hose as you cut. Viola. No more ugly jagged edges on your hoses.

I have no idea what the intended application was, but the 90° hose I found at Farm and Fleet is made by Dayco, part # 80411 and is long enough to make
either style breather. It cost about 5 bucks.

Sharp eyes will have noticed that the little funny clamps that hold the hose are not shown. That's 'cuz I was still cleaning them up when I snapped the photo --they were really getting ugly. Hints for restoring small parts like these will appear in a furure article. Until then...

--Julia Sue