Hi all,

I was planning on using braided hose with AN lines on the heater core hoses in the engine bay.

I've got my heater core out of the car, cut the little ribs off the end of the pipes (the expanded part to help the rubber hose seal. I was planning on adding a -10 sleeve and tube nut, and then flaring it with my AN flaring tool. Here's where it gets tricky....

I thought it was 5/8" pipe, but it it's 5/8 ID, not OD. This means that the -10 sleeve is the same exact size as the pipe and won't slide over.

So then I got a -12, to see if I could make that work. That is just way to big.

Has anyone figured out how to do this?

 

I guess you found out the difference between pipe and tubing. One is measured I.D. and the other is O.D respectively.



In an effort to make my post useful, maybe this...

http://www.fastenal.com/web/products...x?sku=46450625 Solder this on.

then screw this in http://www.anplumbing.com/Adapters/Aluminum-14.html TOP product

Maybe that can work for you.

 

You are so smart haha.


One question on the solder though, will that hold up to the heat of the downpipe right next to it? It's been a long time since I soldered any plumbing, but I remember that i never really head to get it all that hot to get the solder to flow.

 

It should be fine, solder melts at over 350 degrees F ( some are higher)so I would think if it was that hot those hoses (the stock ones) would be toast quickly. Or maybe make a heat shield for extra protection.

 

I would have the -10 fitting welded onto the end of the core pipe. That's the safest bet. Especially easy since the core is out of the car.

Soldering would work too. You have to use the direct heat of a torch for the solder to flow. Your downpipe isn't anywhere close enough to melt it. If you're terribly concerned about it, heat wrap or hot coat the downpipe.

 

^How do you weld an aluminum or steel fitting to copper?

I could not find copper AN fittings

 

Yeah, no copper AN fittings that I'm aware of.

I'll go with solder, my downpipe is wrapped, and I'm making a heat shield for the entire turbo/downpipe system to try to basically separate it from the rest of the engine bay and feed it with a vent from the front bumper. Got the idea from BigAl's build.

 

Don't worry about the heat from the downpipe melting the solder. If there is any water in the line it won't melt since it pulls off so much heat.

 

^ Excellent point, yea, you definately won't have a problem.

 

Isn't there some electro-chemical issue mixing copper and aluminum in the same system?

 

There won't be any more aluminum and copper than there already is. The heater core has always been copper and the car has many aluminum parts that the coolant passes through. I'm only adding 2 new aluminum fittings.