I just finished the extreme cooling system makeover...from hell!
To answer the question I was able to use channel locks from below. Replaced all with worm gear clamps.
My gripe is the car has 11 stinkin hoses. NAPA carries 8 of them and none of the local Ford Dealers even stocked the other three.
The top hose is actually 5 hoses bonded together and should be featured on that "Engineering Disasters" show.
