custom auto AC lines

[alabamatoy]

Asking for help here, so if this is in the wrong forum, slap me around and I'll move it.

I have a well-sorted 4X4 with a swapped engine (it started life as a I-4 and now has a V6). The time has come to try to reanimate the AC, but of course the fittings on the correct V6 compressor are very different, the previous hoses wont work (locations are wrong) and the receiver/dryer cannot be where it originally was because other things are in the way. Long backstory to substantiate why I need to make some custom AC hardlines. Yes, I know that I can get the flex lines made by places like Thermo King etc.

I have purchased some AC aluminum hardline, tubing bender, and proper TIG rod with intent to learn how to TIG the Al tubing (I can TIG now, but I've only done steel and a little Al sheet).

I have searched all over for Al elbows, reducers, etc. I expected to be able to buy these like I would buy copper tubing elbows for soldered pipes, but I cant seem to find any such. Can anyone suggest sources for such fittings to be welded into a hardline setup for this rig?

And if I am approaching this problem all wrong, I'm open to any enlightenment.

 

[gmcgeo]

Asking for help here, so if this is in the wrong forum, slap me around and I'll move it.

I have a well-sorted 4X4 with a swapped engine (it started life as a I-4 and now has a V6). The time has come to try to reanimate the AC, but of course the fittings on the correct V6 compressor are very different, the previous hoses wont work (locations are wrong) and the receiver/dryer cannot be where it originally was because other things are in the way. Long backstory to substantiate why I need to make some custom AC hardlines. Yes, I know that I can get the flex lines made by places like Thermo King etc.

I have purchased some AC aluminum hardline, tubing bender, and proper TIG rod with intent to learn how to TIG the Al tubing (I can TIG now, but I've only done steel and a little Al sheet).

I have searched all over for Al elbows, reducers, etc. I expected to be able to buy these like I would buy copper tubing elbows for soldered pipes, but I cant seem to find any such. Can anyone suggest sources for such fittings to be welded into a hardline setup for this rig?

And if I am approaching this problem all wrong, I'm open to any enlightenment.

You are on the right track, check this place out if you haven't yet. Cold Hose

 

[alabamatoy]

Cold Hose has no elbows except for condensate drain lines that I can find. I will need 90, 180 and possibly 45 elbows because I cant bend anywhere near tight enough without wrecking the tube. I've read of people taking a straight tube, capping one end, filling it with sand almost full, cap the other end, then bend it (ie a junkyard mandrel!) which I may hafta try. I was hoping to slip on a elbow, TIG it and move on.

 

[gmcgeo]

Cold Hose has no elbows except for condensate drain lines that I can find. I will need 90, 180 and possibly 45 elbows because I cant bend anywhere near tight enough without wrecking the tube. I've read of people taking a straight tube, capping one end, filling it with sand almost full, cap the other end, then bend it (ie a junkyard mandrel!) which I may hafta try. I was hoping to slip on a elbow, TIG it and move on.

I doubt you will find anything like that with out making it yourself. Maybe try an already pre-bent line and cut and tig that?

 

[alabamatoy]

Hmmmm...viable option that, will pursue.

 

[OccupantRJ]

My dad taught me to bend tubing by driving a wood plug into the end, filling with dry sand, then capping the other end with a longer wooden peg with a bit of taper whittled on it. A fork in a tree was used to bend. You may can take original aluminum fittings for the compressor and such and adapt to your tubing by swaging, then tig welding.

 

[fitter30]

Google custom auto ac lines several places come up

 

[APEowner]

McMaster-Carr has some aluminum elbows but they're pipe size not tubing size so you'll have to look at the dimensioned drawings to see if anything will work.

I've made my own elbows by just drilling intersecting holes in aluminum block. You can even add mounting holes to secure it somewhere.

 

[DGersic]

Asking for help here, so if this is in the wrong forum, slap me around and I'll move it.

I have a well-sorted 4X4 with a swapped engine (it started life as a I-4 and now has a V6). The time has come to try to reanimate the AC, but of course the fittings on the correct V6 compressor are very different, the previous hoses wont work (locations are wrong) and the receiver/dryer cannot be where it originally was because other things are in the way. Long backstory to substantiate why I need to make some custom AC hardlines. Yes, I know that I can get the flex lines made by places like Thermo King etc.

I have purchased some AC aluminum hardline, tubing bender, and proper TIG rod with intent to learn how to TIG the Al tubing (I can TIG now, but I've only done steel and a little Al sheet).

I have searched all over for Al elbows, reducers, etc. I expected to be able to buy these like I would buy copper tubing elbows for soldered pipes, but I cant seem to find any such. Can anyone suggest sources for such fittings to be welded into a hardline setup for this rig?

And if I am approaching this problem all wrong, I'm open to any enlightenment.

Reportedly, Vintage Air sells aluminum tube that is relatively easy to bend. You may have something harder to work with. You could try annealing it, then bending.

Somewhere in a thread on the HAMB, I’ve seen some really nice done A/C hard lines. Might have been done with stainless, not aluminum.

Bends should be possible. Forming the correct O ring profile for the ends may be more difficult. What’s your plan for those?

 

[chinboys]

While finishing up my HVAC certification class a couple of years ago... We were told by the Python rep that the head of LG USA HVAC used their product and swears by it, "the future of all linesets is going to be PEX Aluminium based."
Try to find automobile typed connectors for this product will be tough and of course, keep it away from hot spots.
You might need to use exiting ARC brass to automobile fittings.
The linesets are somewhat anti-kink.
check it out at https://pythonls.com

 

[bonneyman]

I did a brief stint in auto A/C right out of high school, and we did alot of retrofits on older cars or those that didn't come with factory A/C. We used special high pressure rubber lines with special ribbed fitting on hard points to get it to work. I'd imagine they still make this stuff for special projects or car mods/specialty jobs.

 

[no704]

Go to a junk yard and piece together what you want. Probably even find the pump fittings.should be able to expand ends and solder with low temp al rod.

 

[Jagmandave]

There's a really interesting series of YouTube videos by a couple of guys working in their 2 car garage - the stuff they've done is nothing short of amazing......at any rate one of the latest thing they did was make up hard lines for the A/c. In their vid they brazed the fittings onto the aluminium lines using propane and some special flux. I'll see if I can find the vid....

Found it.....

 

[ejwan]

Years ago I did custom ac hard line for my car to reroute and hide them. I got the supplies from a company called docs block. Sadly they went out of business. I got a flux solder from them to fuse the aluminum blocks fitting to hand line or join two hard line male/female joint. They had most fittings with o-ring as well. I was able to use benders to bend the hard line. Hope you can figure it out.

 

[BillK]

Asking for help here, so if this is in the wrong forum, slap me around and I'll move it.

I have a well-sorted 4X4 with a swapped engine (it started life as a I-4 and now has a V6).

What vehicle is it ? Was that chassis ever available with a V-6 ?

 

[75gmck25]

When I lived in San Antonio I had some custom A/C lines made because I had swapped a Sanden compressor and parallel flow condenser into my 1975 GMC K25. The guy made the new barrier rubber hoses by crimping on the fittings. To mate it all to the old parts in the truck he just cut and brazed stock fittings together and made adapters if the thread size didn't match standard hose sizes.

 

[PWC Repair]

If you were into show cars and hotrods you would have already found your parts

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