Been down this road. It was a long time getting a solution, but the solution was perfect.
I had the same problem with an upper hose fitting: the thermostat housing is pointed the wrong way, and the hose has to make a turn to get there. What hose has that bend? You don't wanna run a flex hose--bad form, man.
I contacted Gates rubber company with the same question. What they said they'd do is, if I made a mockup hose of exactly what I needed and sent it to them, they'd tell me which stock hose number to buy, and that would do the trick. I took a piece of aluminum flex tube, the kind you might use for a dryer vent, but smaller diameter, and hooked it up to my radiator and thermostat, just the way I wanted to route it. Then I made a papier mâché around that tube, but I guess you could also put duct tape around it many times so that it's shape stays, and doesn't bend. I put it in a big box and sent it to this person at Gates who talked to me on the phone. I forget the number of the hose they told me to get, but their instructions were to buy hose number 'xxxxx', trim 3" off the short curve at the end of the hose and it should fit. That did it. I'd contact Gates.
