Braided Line/Fitting Installation ?

[doc]

I'm trying to install stainless steel braided hose and Earl's press on type fittings on my T4 DTM for oil lines. What's the trick of fitting the SS hose into the screw in top of the fitting? How do you get a real clean cut on the end of the braided line?

I've tried several things and it's a bugger of a job. I've now stuck my fingers enough times to ask for help and hope somebody has a method to make this easier. Any assistance appreciated.

doc

[david58]

Electrical tape cut it with a jig saw just leave the tape on.

[Glenn]

Electrical tape cut it with a jig saw just leave the tape on.

Tape and a cut off wheel.

[doc]

Going to try the cut off wheel right now. Great idea!! I'll report back.

doc

[doc]

Yea, buddy! Tape and cutoff wheel got the first connection in place. Still, a touchy piece of business. The braided wire wants to spread with each touch and it is a tight fit into the connection end. Plus, my safety glasses are scratched to the max, of course, and the old eyes are better at hammering than precision work. But, even limping, i got one of the buggers on there.

Tomorrow I will try david's jig saw method to see if I can effect an even cleaner cut.

Thanks fellas!

doc

[Blobber]

No no, you cut the hose by useing a sharp chisel and a hammer. The it will be cut very nice.

[doc]

Thought of the chisel and hammer method, but discarded it as too compatible with my crude style. But I'll give it a try just to see.

I actually have the lines installed now!!

doc

[69vw1915]

I'll second Glenn;s "tape and cutoff wheel" method.

The tape keeps the just cut overbraid ends from unraveling....

[Bugfuel]

tape and ultra thin cutoff wheel worked for me. Haven't found them in the US so I had my dad bring me a stack of 1mm thick wheels when he came by last christmas time I can get 0.8mm too. You can even bend them some.. and they cut like a knife.

[1 Chance Racing]

I was going to put the braid to mine also but it was hard enough to get the regular rubber hoses off me fittings. How do you get the braid off without cutting it and replacing it every time? With the braid when you pull on it doesn't it just get tighter?

[perrib]

I use the tape method. Where I buy it they used a cheap throat shear to cut it. I bet a sharp chisel would work well.

One Chance without the AN fitting screw together the hose is easy to remove.

[Chris V]

I use the tape method. Where I buy it they used a cheap throat shear to cut it. I bet a sharp chisel would work well.

There's a video of it done with a chisel on youtube I think...big chisel, bigger hammer...done, instantly.

Using electrical tape I've never even had a problem with using old f'd up hose...maybe I'm lucky, maybe it's the calluses.

[1 Chance Racing]

Davids 58 and I were working on my ride and I had already bought the braid and the pretty red ends that are actually just hose clamps in disguise. I had already cut one length I needed but when I tried to get the old regular rubber hose off , it would not pull off. I had to cut the hose down the length of the fitting it was hooked to , to get it off. That's when I decided not to use the braid because I would not have been able to cut through the rubber hose if it had braid on it.

[doc]

Getting lines off is always going to be a pain, but you can certainly do it. On my AR connector ends, where the line slides up into the screw end, the id of the hose slides onto a smooth tube. I'm thinking with a little twisting and pulling, these will come right off. On the type of fitting that has the serrated type tube, you would have to cut them off. But, provided you don't mind losing a finger or two, a sharp pocket knife would cut through the braid, albeit a strand or two at a time.

Obviously, per the above posts, there are several ways to cut the end of braided tubing. The hard part seems to me is keeping the braiding from unraveling so you can slide it into the very tight fitting. Tape is really the magic. I actually used tape to make the cut - about 2 tight wraps - then left it on until I had the end of the tube just up inside the fitting. Then I peeled the tape back off at a real steep angle. Once I did one, the rest were pretty easy. If the braid becomes frayed and spread at all, may as well start over with a clean cut cause you'll never get it up in there.

Also, probably want to leave your lines just a hair long - about an inch - just in case you have to start over. Ashame to toss a piece of expensive tubing cause it's an inch short and lines that are just a hair long probably won't be a problem.

doc

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Masking tape and cut off wheel.

How I have done it; Measure and mark the cut point on the hose. Then slide on the fitting’s nut or what is used to clamp down on the connection. Then apply your (masking) tape centering it over the mark at the location to be cut (If you make the mark with a black Sharpie it will show through the tape. By cutting in the middle of the tape, this leaves both ends of the hose to remain taped). I make a couple wraps around the hose so that the cut-off disc doesn’t mess up the tape too bad. The cut will look like it is messed up or melted some but don’t worry about it.. I also make sure to make the cut so that the cutting disc is rotating in the direction that the tape is wrapped; e.g., like when taping a plumbing connection, the end of the tape goes in the direction that you thread the fitting on. Now you can work the hose onto the fitting, carefully remove the tape, and then clamp the nut or feral down.

There is now a jig advertized for sale to do it.. I'm not sure how much it costs though. Think I saw it advertized in Hot VW’s but I couldn’t find it.