Have to agree with Gunslinger..had a boat (inboard) that always heated up when I ran over 3500RPM. It drove me nuts..finally had someone drive the boat & I opened the hatch & watched the return hoses cave in. They were only 3/4" hoses.  so I replaced them with copper pipe & the problem was solved. I've never saw this on a car, but that water pump at high RPM's wants to pull alot of water... so a collapsed bottom hose is a very good possability.

Alan

The hose should come with the spring already inside it.

I'm not aware of anyone that supplies the entire set of hoses and clamps like you're asking for. That would be a good thing for a supplier to do. Most suppliers do offer a complete vacuum hose kit and some offer a complete hose clamp kit. You can always call and talk to a supplier...they may be willing to make a better deal if you order everything at once.

Yeah, the lower hose will have the spring in it. The hoses (coolant) don't come in any "kit" that I know of, either.

I had cooling issues with my 76 when running 70 mph on the freeway during the summer. It would creep up to redline  after about 15 miles at that speed. I had to do two things. One was to replace the radiator with the heavy duty core used for engines with AC. I didn't think it would be worth rodding out the old core and it was the standard narrow one any way. I think it had only 2 rows of cooling tubes. The other thing I did was to replace the seals around the radiator that were missing. The seals help keep the air from by passing the radiator. The vette now runs at the thermostate setting even during the real hot days (I live in a desert region). Hope this helps.

Glen

I have the same year & engine w/AC as you do. When I first got the car, I wasn't sure what if anything was replaced on it. The car was for the most part all original. I took it to the Corvette Clown  in NJ (not his real business name) for a flush, drain, etc. within 10 miles I was overheating. Mind you there was nothing really wrong with my car, I was just doing some preventive maintanence. Long story short. I replaced the rad with a DeWitts, dual fans, Edelbrock WP. All the problems went away  I was never able to determine what was wrong. Also check the contacts on your temp sensor on the side of the engine, due to the heat these BB generate they become quite brittle. If the coolent is as discolored as you state, and you've smelled burning oil, I suggest you change them both. Why take a chance, you may wind up with a blown engine.