A/C Hose question

[lewma]

All

After completing inventory on my kit, I noticed that the A/C host kit is from a Ford 33. Did anyone else get this kind of hose kit with their coupe kit ? Are the same parts used on all kits ?

thanks
mark

[Alphamacaroon]

Not sure if mine was from a 33 Ford— it was just a bunch of AC hose and a bunch of loose fittings in some bags. It might have said 33 Ford, but I didn't notice it.

There should be two diameters of hose, one for the high side and one for the low side. Mine were not cut to size— they gave you some lengths of hose and you had to measure and cut yourself depending on your layout.

In terms of the fittings, you should be able to look at the instructions to figure out what is needed, and make sure they fit the proper hose diameter. Interestingly, my kit actually had a bunch of left over fittings— not sure if this is normal or FFR accidentally included another kit.

[lewma]

Not sure if mine was from a 33 Ford— it was just a bunch of AC hose and a bunch of loose fittings in some bags. It might have said 33 Ford, but I didn't notice it.

There should be two diameters of hose, one for the high side and one for the low side. Mine were not cut to size— they gave you a bunch and you had to cut measure and cut yourself depending on your layout.

Thanks!

[UpNorth]

IIRC there are 3 sizes: 6, 8 and 10…Or maybe I’m wrong…

[edwardb]

I think it's a standard package Vintage Air kit. For the contents vs. what it's marked for. Mine had a bunch of leftover fittings. Good to practice with since I hadn't done A/C or crimped hoses before.

[Alphamacaroon]

IIRC there are 3 sizes: 6, 8 and 10…Or maybe I’m wrong…

If I remember correctly (or incorrectly), there were three different sizes of fittings, but only two sizes of hoses? But you did yours more recently, so I could definitely be wrong! A lot of it is a blur now ;)

[GWL]

Sounds like they include a crimping tool with the kit. That's great, as I had to take mine (another kit) to an auto repair facility to get mine crimped.

When getting ready to crimp make sure you mark the fittings so there will be no twist that you have to force into the tubing to get fittings to align and screw into place.

George

[edwardb]

Sounds like they include a crimping tool with the kit. That's great, as I had to take mine (another kit) to an auto repair facility to get mine crimped.

When getting ready to crimp make sure you mark the fittings so there will be no twist that you have to force into the tubing to get fittings to align and screw into place.

George

No, a crimp tool isn't included. The instructions recommend https://www.mastercool.com/product/71550/. That's what I bought and works well. Completed my Coupe with it and now using it for the Truck build. Of course the option is to figure out the routing, lengths, and orientation. Mark the parts and take them to a shop for crimping.

[UpNorth]

…Of course the option is to figure out the routing, lengths, and orientation. Mark the parts and take them to a shop for crimping.

That’s what I did. Double and triple check your marks because a 10 gauge hose is really stiff! For my part an A/C shop did the crimping for a fraction of the cost of buying and probably even renting what edwardb is reffering to. Job was perfectly done, no aggravation for me.
I’m not planning on any other build in a forseable future so it was a no brainer for me.
Just my 2 cents…

[kd0wda]

I too had this with mine. I ended up having a bunch of fittings I didn't use.

[John Dol]

In order to make sure that the hose is in the exact place you need it when crimping I did the following:

Put tape on the fitting collar.
Inserted the hose and made sure it’s fully seated. When installed put a piece off tape around the hose right against the fitting collar. This is now your depth gauge.
Then mark two lines across the two pieces of tape to make sure rotation stays proper.

When taking the hoses off even when things come apart accidentally you can easily put thing back where they need to be.
Then either crimp or take them to a shop.

Little bit of a pain to take the tape off of the collar after crimping but we’ll worth the aggravation. All my hoses were perfect and no leaks when filled.

HTH

John

[Alan_C]

Agree with prior comments. Marking the fitting and hose to determine the "clocking" of the hose end is critical. The large barrier hose is stiff and has a natural bend from the spool it was shipped on.
I used a local automotive AC shop to crimp my lines. I found the crimping process made the lines a fraction longer. I appeared the squeezing of the hose material in the fitting when crimping separated the line on my fitting with the line on my hose maybe 1/32". I have not yet reassembled the lines post crimping. It is the shorter lines I am most concerned about.