A/C Hardlines

[sjaroslo]

I am not having the best of luck with the custom tubing benders out there. I was kind of underwhelmed by Inline Tube when they did my fuel and brake lines https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/99160-Anyone-having-issues-with-Inline-Tube?highlight=inline so when it came time to have custom A/C hardlines bent up, I contacted Classic Tube. VERY first question out of my mouth when I called them up: "Can you do the ends for Vintage Air, with the bubble/o-ring termination?" "Oh, yeah, we can do that." Of course, after a week and a half of them having my templates, I get the call the other day "Uh, I can't make this end for you. It's not a regular o-ring end." Thanks for nothing!

My issues are plentiful; I don't have the skill to do a nice job bending up the Vintage Air pre-terminated lines; unless you are good with bending on the fly, getting a pre-made pipe in the right length is going to be a nightmare; with my home bender, even though it can make a pretty tight 180 bend, it can't do it close enough to the fitting on the condenser to be able to clear the frame of the radiator support, plus I have to be cognizant of the Rally Sport doors wanting to occupy some of the same space that my piping may pass through....

So, finally, to my question--why hardlines? Is there a functional/mechanical/safety reason why one can't use barrier hose and EZ clips to run ALL of the A/C lines? Of course, since I was planning on hardlines, etc., I've already cut the hoses to length, but that is not insurmountable at this point. I think that the hardlines could look nice, but certainly not with me manning the bender.

I also have a fancy Eastwood flare making tool, but I have not seen anybody selling dies that fit that that would make the VA fitting end. The OD of the pipe on the connection side of the flare/o-ring is actually slightly reduced compared to the OD of the rest of the pipe--that was supposedly what was preventing Classic Tube from being able to make them.

I'm at a loss and looking to my Pro-Touring brethren to lend an ear and offer some advice. Thank you!

[Schwartz Performance]

The hard lines are used for tight bends and better looks. There's no reason you can't use the rubber hose everywhere. We often do our own routing and use hose throughout. There may be a cooling benefit to having the hard lines , and I think you'll still be using the hard line from the condenser to the drier, but rubber everywhere else right?

-Dale

[sjaroslo]

Thanks for the response, Dale. It IS actually the routing between the drier and the condenser that I'm specifically asking about.... In order to come out of the condenser, miss the rad support frame and get to the drier, while avoiding the space that the headlight doors will occupy, crafting hardlines to accomplish that (from pre-terminated VA stock) is what has exceeded my talent/tooling.

[Twentyover]

OK, I think the VA hardlines use a brazed union type fitting . If this is the case, I would suggest you get some 5/16 aluminum tubing from summit (about $20 for 25 feet) slice off a chunk and get hand tubing bender (I like the KD 2517, it's good for a couple tube sizes) .

Starting with a pieces of coat hanger, or, if you' have some available, a fill wire for brazing or TIG. bent a path you want the tube to take. Play around until you're feeling pretty good about routing, that it clears stuff, won't be in the way, if t's long you can bracket to it for support.

Slice of tubing, strike a straight line down it (this will help determine your rotation angle) and manipulate the bends with the hand bender. Don't be shy, take a couple stabs at it. after a few tries, the routing should be looking pretty good.

Now take the VA terminated hard line and overlay the best fit template you created. Match bend and rotation angles as close as you can, using the line (I recommend a Sharpie) too help you out. When doner (I'm assuming you started on the end with the swivel nut), toy should have a tail to the union. Cut the tubing to match the template end, and drill out the tubing braze into the union. Have a welder either braze or tig the formed tube to the union.

The 20' of aluminum should last 3-4 cars, depending on size.

The issue with hose, to me, is bend radius, propensity to kink, size, and general clutter it adds to the area. And cost. (although if you can't have a buddy wekd the union for a couple beers, the tube option will cost more than the hose..

Lots of 80's GM have straight lengths of tube you may be able to use also, with fittings already on them.

[Spork82]

Hard lines for the most part are for looks or tight bends as mentioned but they sweat more than the hose so make sure you wrap them good.

For my mustang I made all new lines with aeroquip hose and ran them in tight areas just need to have extra hose so you can snake them around and in the direction you want them.

[sjaroslo]

Thanks for the feedback, everybody. These are the condenser lines that I'm messing with so sweating isn't an issue, but I think that hoses may look dumb but if I can't make the hard lines work, I don't think I'll have a choice. I suppose that getting someone to braze on the VA ends to a piece of aluminum pipe is not the craziest idea in the world, but I'm not certain that it is a path that I want to take just yet.... I've ordered 2 sets of the VA standard hard lines for a Camaro, and I'm going to see if there is anyway whatsoever to make them work. I will have to figure out some way to mount the drier but that seems easier than bending up lines! With a vise, a small c-clamp, and a tubing bender, I might just be able to modify the stock stuff enough to work....