Hyundai Repair: 92 Hyundai excel ac, hyundai excel, evaporator

Question
Hi HT..1992 Hyundai excel hatchback~
still having ONE major problem connecting the shortest ac hose in the whole car..its up against the firewall. The female flared end is on the evaporator..
I am trying to connect the male ac hose with garter spring. I replaced the garter spring and put on 2 0-rings, but the line will not go on..was it you that previously said to leave on the red plastic connectors that come with the new ac hoses? The flared end won't go over these unless you invert them???also, there is not enough "slack" on the evaporator tube..its the shorter of the 2 flared ends that come out of evaporator..its in a bad place against firewall..how can I pull it out a bit further without damaging the flared end?? the flared end is nicked a bit but not bad at all....it just seems I don't have enough of the flared end..not out of the firewall far enough to get a good grasp on it..any suggestions or tools to use?? THANKS again..these spring locks r for the birds :(

Answer
In regard to the red plastic ring, it typically has about three or four "legs" that clip into the garter spring housing.  If the ring prevents reassembly, it's okay to leave it off, but you won't have the confirmation that the line is positively engaged.

In regard to the short evaporator tube (and we're taxing my memory a bit here), I believe both evaporator tubes should stick out of the firewall the same distance.  If they don't, chances are good that the one that's shorter has been bent inside the evaporator case.  You can try pulling it out by grabbing with your hand, but this may prove fruitless.  Just about the only other solution short of removing the evaporator is to take the line that attaches to this tube, attach it to the evaporator first, and then use the a/c line to pull the evaporator tube out.  If all else fails, you'll probably need to remove the evaporator and attempt straightening.