Old NOS heater hoses

[riv2x4]

I have an NOS set of the 3 moulded heater hoses for my 64. I have no idea how old they are. I have kept them in climate controlled storage since I bought them. The question is, can the be too old to use without worrying about a hose failure?

Have an original set on the car would be really nice, having a failure with them would not. I am planning on replacing the heater core this spring and would replace the hoses at that time.

Any suggestions on the best way to determine if the hoses are still any good?

Larry

[NTX5467]

Even if they are still soft and pliable, the inner reinforcement fabric might have "dry rotted". Personally, I don't know that I'd use them for anything else than as a pattern to (hopefully) find some more modern (and still used) molded hoses for modern vehicles with similar bends and contours in them (using only the appropriate section). Finding a pictorial hose catalog (online, Gates or Dayco, possibly?) might help in that search.

There might be something similar in the GranSport Skylark repro realm of things, where they still used 401s and such? Possibly some of the Riv club members have some ideas in this area?

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467