Bill-
Got your PM....The info from Sam is correct. Jeff is the one that is making them.
As far as having the spring in the hose...yep, it's a big deal. The spring keeps it from collapsing. In the past, I have reused the spring from the old hose...though the hoses that I got from OPG had them...I had to trim them to fit...
I don't know about the heater hoses. I'd like to know too...