Hi Tony,

With nothing but respect in my tone, I get why you would not trust hose pinchers. One would likely need to have the experience of owning and using them before being able to trust the tool's application, and know when not to use one. And there are many varieties to choose from.

I beg you to consider exactly how "easy" it is to plug, or loop the ends of those formed hoses, even if you decide you won't be needing them, and shorten them. Every connection, hose or wire, between the balanced engine on good motor mounts is (or needs to be*) engineered for survival. How would you plug the hoses exactly? How would you support the plugged or looped end?

In my response to Bob, I mentioned having seen something like the loop suggestion implemented on a 240 (not mine). It wasn't executed very well, and then it was virtually forgotten. The constant head heat circulated full flow through those hoses, and the Home Depot copper plumbing was left to dangle, causing the head (supply) hose to tear across the top at the end of the nipple. This resulted in a steamy breakdown, tow, and warped head. I got to help with the head.

Can't say oil soaked motor mounts were not part of the scenario, but I do know too few of us pay much attention to the vibration-over-time cause of failures from plastic rad necks to starter cables to brake booster hoses. I see this repeatedly in suggestions to re-route things like the alternator B+ wire.

* ask any 740 owner what he thinks of plastic heater valves

--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

"The similarities between me and my father are different."