The clamp is only about 1/2" wide or less, so the 1.75" will be plenty to
grab. You can always pop a couple of sheetmetal screws into it.

Good. Thanks for the confirmation.

Seem like I was worrying too much. I didn't want to buy the fitting
and then discovered that it would come loose during operation.

Now, I can go ahead to order the fittings/hoses.

Jay Chan