Tube Connections
Building a street car will occasionally require the builder to connect AN line directly to aluminum or steel tubing. The easiest way is to just slip a -6 braided hose over a 38-inch tube and seal it with a clamp, but for higher-pressure applications that just won't work. In our case, we wanted to connect a B&M trans cooler in front of the radiator using two -6 AN braided stainless steel lines to the mild steel 516-inch tubing plumbed into the transmission. The problem with this connection is that 516-inch tubing is basically a -5 line, which is in between a -4 (equivalent to 416- or 14-inch tubing) and a -6 (which is 616- or 38-inch tubing).
Our friends at Orme Brothers in Northridge, California, showed us an Aeroquip Versil-Flare tube nut and ferrule fitting combination that creates a solid, medium-pressure connection and does not require making a flare. One end of the ferrule tapers down to clamp onto the tubing while the other end is flared with a 37-degree seat to seal against a -5 male fitting. Then we use a -5 to -6 male-to-male reducer adapter to connect the two lines together. This creates a solid, professional-looking connection that is also easy to disconnect when the need arises. Some of the Versil-Flare pieces are in the high-performance automotive Aeroquip catalog, but the -5 steel fittings can only be found in the Aeroquip industrial catalog. There are pages of cool fittings in the industrial catalogs if you're looking for oddball connectors.
There is a more elegant approach, but it requires an expensive AN tubing flare tool. Slide a -5 tubing flare nut and -5 tubing sleeve over the hard line and then flare the tubing to the 37-degree AN seat angle. Use the same -5 to -6 male adapter union to connect to the -6 line and you're done.
This is the slick Aeroquip Versil-Flare tube nut and ferrule arrangement along with the -5 to -6 male tube reducer. This fitting allows us to adapt the 516-inch hard line ( which is -5) to the -6 female hose end.
Here are the adapters installed on the two steel 516-inch lines connecting to a pair of -6 Aeroquip hoses that lead to the cooler.
`SOURCEOrme Brothers; Northridge, CA; 877/676-3277; ormebros.com
Aluminum Mounts
Air conditioning is becoming more popular by the day. This car crafter needed an easy way to mount a generic A/C condenser in front of his aluminum radiator. Using a length of round aluminum bar stock, he bent each end at a 45-degree angle and drilled small holes in both the condenser mount and aluminum radiator to connect the two together. This is not only a solid mount, but is also visually attractive.
The builder created a top and bottom cover for the universal aluminum radiator that he used as a source for the A/C condenser mount. Also note the use of a 18-inch pipe to -4 male hose end for the overflow pipe for the radiator. Also note the use of foam rubber to cushion the radiator mount to prevent stress cracks due to vibration.
Let It Breathe
Crankcase breathers are a necessary evil with any engine. If the breather is not of sufficient size, the pressure buildup inside the engine can actually push gaskets out, causing all kinds of messy results. If the thought of a big vent filter stuck on top of a valve cover offends your sense of style--then move the vent. This enterprising car crafter used a 34-inch tube to move the breather vent to a remote location behind the engine closer to the firewall. The vent still performs the same job and also minimizes oil mist that could stain the cast valve cover.
The crankcase vent could be placed anywhere in the engine compartment. The black vent pipe all but disappears, which is exactly the plan. END