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I went to Grainger Thursday morning and ordered clamps for the bypass hose and smaller clamps for the heater and carb hoses that I will pick up next week. I think that Grainger can order all sizes needed for the 1953 Firedome. Although I already had a set of the smaller clamps from Yearone, they are black in contrast to all the other clamps which are gold tint. I would like opinions as to whether I should paint all the clamps aluminum or silver or if for judging purposes the gold tint thing is OK. As long as I am doing this I want to do it right, even if I don't get it judged.
As for pliers, I looked on eBay a lot and ended up ordering new 8' slip joint pliers through Amazon from Atlantic Tools. Markings on the pliers indicate they are Wilco and US made, they are heavy cast, Crome with coated handles, slip joint, notched on the side and front. Cost was $6.95 for pliers and $7.50 for shipping. That was the best pricing I saw on line for that item. They work well.
With help from a friend, I installed, what is it, some 16 original type single wire pinch hose clamps on my 1953 Firedome last weekend. Thanks for all of your suggestions. As I said above, I bought clamps at Graingers and the pliers from Atlantic Tools through Amazon. When I bought the car in 2010 it had hoses in black and red, two types of hose clamps, yellow and red spark plug wires, and a bright blue coil. All of that has been replaced except for the coil which I painted. Now the thing runs fine and looks great!
