Dougs 90

I have been searching for any tips, how to's on making Braided Stainless Hoses. From what I see I think the hoses aren't too bad to make. My questions I cnt seem to find answers for are as follows:
1. How do you determine what size to use?
2. I see how to make the lines, but how do you get fittings attached to the radiator, fuel lines etc?
3. How do you pressure test them before you install?
Any tips or tricks anyone could pass on here would be greatly appreciated. I plan on beginning this as a long term project for my vette.

Thanks,
Doug

cicch95

I will try to answer your questions for FUEL LINE applications.

[QUOTE]1. How do you determine what size to use?[QUOTE]
FUEL LINE: It depends on the application. For most low to med horsepower applications I would suggest 6-AN or 8-AN. 6-AN being for street apps and 8-AN for racing.

[QUOTE]2. I see how to make the lines, but how do you get fittings attached to the radiator, fuel lines etc?[QUOTE]
You need the appropriate AN male fitting in the carb / pump / regulator / etc. It will screw on.

[QUOTE]3. How do you pressure test them before you install?[QUOTE]
This one I can't answer. Never had a leak since I've been making lines!!

-Rick

vetracer

Making braided hoses is pretty easy. Afer determining the length you want, mark the hose with a sharpie. Then wrap duct tape around this spot as tightly as you can several times. You then either have someone hold one end, pulling it tight, or if you are careful you can use a vise to hold it which really works well because it keeps it from moving at all. Next, with a sharp hacksaw blade with a fine tooth count such as for metal cut through the hose as squarely as you can. If the blade is sharp and the tape was wound tightly you shouldn't get any fraying of the steel braids. Then, carefully unwrap the tape and press it into the outer sheath of the Earl's or other hose end fitting using a rolling motion to get all the braids neatly inside the fitting. Once the outer sheath is on, press the inner part in and screw the two together using aluminum line wrenches. If you use standard steel wrenches you will mar and scratch the anodized finish on the fitting! Make sure the end isn't walking back off the hose as you tighten it down. That's about it. I don't know what you will be using the hoses for, if its for an oil cooler I had much better results with -10 over -8. Fuel line can be -8 as can power steering lines.

Ramanstud

The fittings attatch to the braided line by A: shoving the braded line into the end of an in-line connector. Then you have a male-male fitting that will screw into that hoseend to squish the braided hose into the fitting. It's kind of like puting a glass upside down on the counter, laying a towel over it, and then putting another glass on top. By pushing down on the top glass, you squish the towel inbetween them and make a seal. Does this make sense? :lol:



Then you get a crush fitting to connect the fuel lines to the braided line- this is the place where you develope leaks... You have a slip on end fitting (similar in principle to the braided hose ends) that slides over the end of the fuel lines. Put that on first. A little brass crush fitting then slides onto the outside of the fuel line, but inside the end fitting. You then have another male-male adapter that will screw into the hose end and compress the brass crush fitting onto (and around) the fuel line- inside the fitting. This is similar to the glass/towel analogy. Except here it is easy to botch up the brass fitting or have the whole thing slide off the fuel line... After the third time I got it to seal. :D

Hope this helps! :confused:

Dougs 90

I just like the way they look, and it gets pretty toasty in there with my headers now. So I figured why not just start replacing them bit by bit making my own. Are any of them easier to make than others? or should I just jump right in? So there are fittings that will just screw into the radiator deals and such? Do I need to tap them or just wrap them with teflon tape and screw them in? I have never done this before so I am asking some Barney style questions I am sure!

Thanks
Doug

vetracer

And as far as the oil cooler, radiator overflow, and a few other connections you just need to get the fittings that adapt from AN style (coursely threaded with a taper on the end) to NPT style (National Pipe Thread which is plain 'ol home improvement standard pipe size) Oil coolers typically have 1/2" NPT fittings so if you use -10 braided hose you would need a -10 AN to 1/2" NPT adapter fitting. And yes, you will want to wrap the NPT fittings just like plumbers do - but not the AN fittings.


[Modified by vetracer, 1:22 PM 7/31/2003]

Ramanstud

:iagree:

Use 6AN hoses for the fuel lines (it's the same size as your primary feed line- my return was smaller and required a 5AN fitting but later models were both 6AN I think). As for the rest, I suppose you could just eyeball the diameter and match as close as you can. (aside from the 10AN for the oil lines)? There's a conversion to get the SAE diameters into AN sizes... just don't remember it off the top of my head. It will get VERY expensive though. Braided line is $5-$7 a foot for the smaller 6/8AN sizes.


[Modified by Ramanstud, 3:26 PM 7/31/2003]

vetracer

:iagree:

The other thing I wanted to mention is to make each hose just a little longer than you think it needs to be. Every hose I made was too short until I started doing this and I've never thought that I've made one too long.

Dougs 90

That is why it will be an ongoing project! do a lil bit at a time!
Thanks,
Doug

Dougs 90

Any recommendations as to type/brand to use? Or are they all about the same? Who has better prices on this stuff?

vetracer

I don't really have a recommendation on what is better, but I can tell you that there are two primary suppliers for fittings, earls and someone else, ARP possibly? The problem you may run into as I did is that you will have to mix brands to get the exact fittings you need and the colors of the anodizing is not the same on the two brands. If you click on my forum name and see my bio pictures you can see that I have two different brands of fittings. Also check out the "pushlock" hoses on the oil breathers, these are a nice clean way to go for low pressure hoses.

When you buy the fittings make sure you can return what you don't use, that way for example you can buy both the 120 deg bend fitting and the 90 deg bend fitting, take them both home and see which one works best.


[Modified by vetracer, 1:47 PM 7/31/2003]

NHVett

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this: The A/N sizing 6-AN 8-AN means 6/16ths (3/8), 8/16ths (1/2) and so on. This is the ID of the tube. I replaced my tranny oil cooler lines with S/S braided and 6-AN fittings when I added the aux tranny cooler. Looks great. However, it ain't cheap.

vetracer

That's because I didn't know that :)

Makes sense, but I don't think that -8 hose has an inside diameter of 1/2", I would think it is smaller than that. I'll look tonight when I get home, though.

JCAIRE2

I worked for a hydraulic supply house for a year. The 8-AN is a 1/2" inside diameter fitting. The hose will be slightly (about 1/32")smaller than the -AN outlet.

I recommend AEROQUIP fittings and braided hose. We sold both DAYCO and AQ, and the AQ was a much higher quality IMHO. Find a fluidpower/hydraulic supply shop in your area, and you'll be able to get the fittings for MUCH cheaper than from a catalog. I've seen them go for upwards of $30 for each fitting, our wholsale cost was around $12, give or take depending on the complexity of the fitting. :cheers:

vetracer

So its 1/2" inside diameter of the FITTING. OK that I believe, I thought we were talking about the ID of the hose itself.
:crazy:

JCAIRE2

Depending on the brand, the OUTSIDE diameter of the hose will match the INSIDE diameter of the -AN fitting. Each company is slightly different, as well as each production run being slightly different for the hoses. The fittings will always be +or- a couple thousandths the required size.

Hope that didn't muddy the water further. :cheers:

Dominic Sorresso

I tried Earl's and AQ.The AQ stuff is easier to work with. Did my fuel lines when I
went from in-series to parallel plumbing for the TBI's.

Bruce

You will have use a 32teeth saw to saw off any braided line. Duct tape are not strong enough, to mine experience. I used clear tape that has nylon built in it. That work very good.

Bruce

JCAIRE2

:iagree: Strapping tape is the best choice. Also a mitre type saw with a composite blade would be the ideal cutting tool. :cheers:

LD85

I used a Dremmel too.