January 2013 - Fluid Systems (Antifreeze, A/c & Brake)
During the last month I have been working on laying out the antifreeze, A/C and brake lines. This has been a long process as I have thrown the manual aside for most of it..... meaning it has not always worked on the first try.
One of my main goals in deviating from the manual was to have a clean and robust fluid system that looks neat and clean. I think I am getting there but still have a few things to figure out.
One of my main goals in deviating from the manual was to have a clean and robust fluid system that looks neat and clean. I think I am getting there but still have a few things to figure out.
One of the first things I ordered was a set of Gates Vulco-flex hoses I had seen on the FFR forum. They looked very simple and eliminated some of the connections. I ordered them from JEGS but once I received them I quickly decided I would not use them. The i.d. of the Vulco-Flex hoses was so much smaller than the 1 1/4" and1 1/2" tubing it would really reduce the cooling system flow.
Once I returned the Gates Vulco-Flex hoses.... I decided to try and bend up some 6061 tubing from McMaster. In a previous life I had done a bunch of tube bending so I had access to a large bender for the 1 1/4" X .065" and 1 1/2" X .065" tubing required for the cooling system. I originally planned to make as many of the bends with the tubing and link the tubes to components or other tubes with radiator hose or the rubber adapters supplied in the kit. Since the aluminum tubing was not very cheap I really did not want to make any mistakes so I bought some conduit to practice on... that ended up being a great idea!!
The pictures below are what I had after my first attempt at bending the aluminum. Since this is such large tubing the bend radius is fairly large making it hard to make the tubing go where you want. For instance you can see the driver side radiator tube ended up having to go over the fan rather than behind it due to the large bend radius. This was ok but the more I looked at it I wanted to change it.
Once I returned the Gates Vulco-Flex hoses.... I decided to try and bend up some 6061 tubing from McMaster. In a previous life I had done a bunch of tube bending so I had access to a large bender for the 1 1/4" X .065" and 1 1/2" X .065" tubing required for the cooling system. I originally planned to make as many of the bends with the tubing and link the tubes to components or other tubes with radiator hose or the rubber adapters supplied in the kit. Since the aluminum tubing was not very cheap I really did not want to make any mistakes so I bought some conduit to practice on... that ended up being a great idea!!
The pictures below are what I had after my first attempt at bending the aluminum. Since this is such large tubing the bend radius is fairly large making it hard to make the tubing go where you want. For instance you can see the driver side radiator tube ended up having to go over the fan rather than behind it due to the large bend radius. This was ok but the more I looked at it I wanted to change it.
Tubing Round 2
After some head scratching I took another stab at the cooling tubes in the front of the car. This time I used a combination of bent tubes and formed radiator hoses.
I think the combination of formed heater hoses and tubing looks better and tucks in a little cleaner than the previous version. It might have more leak points but... I still like it better. The radiator hoses I ended up buying to make the various bends are as follows:
Water pump suction to bent tube: 21714
Upper water pump to bent tube: 21947 (first half)
Passenger side radiator port to straight tube: 21947 (2nd half)
Front bent tubes (attached to tunnel tubes with kit adapters) to bent tube going to radiator ports: 22332 (used for both)
Driver side radiator port to bent tube: Donor Vette part
After some head scratching I took another stab at the cooling tubes in the front of the car. This time I used a combination of bent tubes and formed radiator hoses.
I think the combination of formed heater hoses and tubing looks better and tucks in a little cleaner than the previous version. It might have more leak points but... I still like it better. The radiator hoses I ended up buying to make the various bends are as follows:
Water pump suction to bent tube: 21714
Upper water pump to bent tube: 21947 (first half)
Passenger side radiator port to straight tube: 21947 (2nd half)
Front bent tubes (attached to tunnel tubes with kit adapters) to bent tube going to radiator ports: 22332 (used for both)
Driver side radiator port to bent tube: Donor Vette part
As I bent tubing for the supply and return to the radiator I was working on the A/C lines and ended up having an extra piece of 3/4 tubing. I decided to bend it up for the suction port from the Canton tank to the water pump. I slide a few pieces of 3/4 heater hose over the tube and used some p-clamps to secure it to the frame using rivet nuts. The hose from the water pump to the 3/4" tube came out of my donor parts stash while the piece of hose from the tube to the Canton tank is just a short length of 3/4" heater hose included in the kit. It ended up looking pretty clean an motivated me to look into some additional tubing for the heater hose lines.
For the heater hose tubes I ended up buying some 5/8" x .035" tubing with some Stauff clamps with weld plates from McMaster (learning to love McMaster). To make this idea work I ended up having to remove one of frame cross members for the rod shift. This was not an issue as I am using a cable shift and do not need the cross member. I also had to trim the lower portion of the rear rod shift mount to allow the tubes to go under the cross member (see pics). I will likely put insulation around these tubes to insure the coolant stays warm as it travels to the heater core.
Since I had relocated the drier/accumulator I needed to make some custom A/C lines. I bought some aluminum tubing from McMaster and some fittings from AC Parts (www.acparts.com). Combining custom bent tubing and a few new hose fittings I came up with what you see below. I will have to have some of the tubing welded and the hoses crimped but it came out pretty decent.
Here is a list of what bought to make the new A/C lines:
Compressor to condenser: I cut the hose and added a mender with a high side port (A/C Part part number: SKU-13-BL6102-3). This hose was originally a little short and the mender added the necessary length and replaced the high side port removed from the condenser to evaporator hose.
Condenser to Evaporator: I removed the fitting with multiple bends and the high side charge port and replaced it with a M20 female o-ring fitting without a high side port (A/C Parts part number: SKU-13-BL9315)
Evaporator to drier/accumulator: This line is a mix of the straight tube assembly that came with the vintage air system, custom bent .625"X.065" tubing from McMaster, a M27 90 degree fitting from AC Parts, a short section of #12 hose from AC Parts and a straight weld on beadlock hose fitting (AC Parts fitting part numbers: SKU-13-BL9328, SKU-13-482612 & SKU-13-BL6605 respectively)
Accumulator to Compressor:
I cut this hose and added a straight weld on beadlock fitting from AC Parts (AC Parts part number: SKU-13-BL6603) and bent a custom tube from the .625"X.065" tube from McMaster
Here is a list of what bought to make the new A/C lines:
Compressor to condenser: I cut the hose and added a mender with a high side port (A/C Part part number: SKU-13-BL6102-3). This hose was originally a little short and the mender added the necessary length and replaced the high side port removed from the condenser to evaporator hose.
Condenser to Evaporator: I removed the fitting with multiple bends and the high side charge port and replaced it with a M20 female o-ring fitting without a high side port (A/C Parts part number: SKU-13-BL9315)
Evaporator to drier/accumulator: This line is a mix of the straight tube assembly that came with the vintage air system, custom bent .625"X.065" tubing from McMaster, a M27 90 degree fitting from AC Parts, a short section of #12 hose from AC Parts and a straight weld on beadlock hose fitting (AC Parts fitting part numbers: SKU-13-BL9328, SKU-13-482612 & SKU-13-BL6605 respectively)
Accumulator to Compressor:
I cut this hose and added a straight weld on beadlock fitting from AC Parts (AC Parts part number: SKU-13-BL6603) and bent a custom tube from the .625"X.065" tube from McMaster