Who says billet parts are expensive?

[John Mcgraw]

Well guys here are 3 hose clamps that I pised away most of the morning on!
I made these from some 6061 billet bar stock with nothing but a drill press and a belt grinder (AKA, a poor mans milling machine).
I think they came out well, and I made them to fit each location. Given the time I got in them, I would probably been better off buying something off the shelf, but then where is the satisfaction in that. This is probably why the car is taking so long to complete! LOL

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/P0001223.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/P0001225.JPG

Regards, John McGraw

 

[vintagecorvette]

Those are really slick. All need now is a brand name and you are in business.

 

[IH2LOSE]

As I aways say A TRUE CRAFTSMAN, Your work is outstanding,

I see you must of put the buffer to work on the radiator again I dont remember it shineing that much last time I seen a picture of it

 

[IH2LOSE]

You know John I had some aluminum plating and made a bracket for the hood realise, No matter what I did I could not pull a shine out of it,I guess there is aluminum that wont shine?

 

[John Mcgraw]

Larry,

There are Aluminum alloys out there that shine better than others, and I allways try to use 6061 T6 material whenever possible. It really yeilds a great shine and is hard enough that you don't leave scratches in the aluminum if you get it too hot. Some aluminums are so soft, that as you load up the wheel with aluminum, it tends to "pull" at the surface when it is hot and leaves deep marks that look like big scratches. Just clean your buff more fequently with a rake, and don't let your work get too hot. All aluminums will shine up pretty nice once you get the proper technique down for that material. I generally try to use a very greasy Tripoli compound. It is a ***** to clean off the buffed part, but seems to do a better job and last longer than the drier stuff. If you have sanded up to at least 600 grit before polishing, Tripoli, and a spiral sewn buff should be all you need to bring up a high shine. Also there are two distinct directions of part movement against the wheel, and they will produce vastly diffrent results. If you move the part into against the direction of the wheel. this is called the cut direction, and will provide the greatest ammount of cutting action and the least loss of compound from the wheel. The color direction is moving the part in the same direction as the wheel rotation, and will give the high final shine, but tends to throw more compound off the wheel.The ammount of cutting difference between these two directions is very large, and you should only move the part in the cut direction until you are happy with the smoothness and then change to the color direction for the final high shine.

Regards, John McGraw

 

[Gasman]

Just started using my buffer today. Maybe by next year i'll get half the shine
that you have on your pieces. Very Nice!!!

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

Well guys here are 3 hose clamps that I pised away most of the morning on!
I made these from some 6061 billet bar stock with nothing but a drill press and a belt grinder (AKA, a poor mans milling machine).
I think they came out well, and I made them to fit each location. Given the time I got in them, I would probably been better off buying something off the shelf, but then where is the satisfaction in that. This is probably why the car is taking so long to complete! LOL

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/P0001223.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/P0001225.JPG

Regards, John McGraw

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeett..!!!John,

I'm doing almost the same thing. I'm running SS Braided lies from the Intake Manifold to the Heater Core in and out back to the WP. The 65 has a 5/8" and a 3/4" line.

I was looking at those clamps in the catalog and they get some Big Bucks for those suckers. Yours look grate.!!

The only problem I have is using SS Braided hose is that the ID is slightly smaller then the Heater core. I'm trying to figure out how to couple the slightly smaller hose to the the Heater core in and out fittings. To make matters worse..the heater core tubes have that buldge around the front of the tube to help seal the hose. So I'm afraid that trying to jam that hose on could lead to busting the heater core tubes. They are Very Very Tight!!!!
What I need is a Barbed fitting to an AN Male...... But that is not made. Or Finding some SS Braided hose that is really 3/4 and 5/8 ID. But most all SS Hose Made to work with AN Fittings Is slightly under sized to work with the end fittings.

What are the SS hose's shown in your pic's and where are they comming and going too. And ...are they a True ID type hose????

And...do you have a suggestion for fitting the hoses to the core...

 

[John Mcgraw]

VNV,

Welcome to the club of people who have tried to adapt 10 AN hose to 5/8" heater hose, only to be thwarted at every turn! Luckily, Russell makes it a whole lot eaiser now. Thier part # 670320 is, in fact, a 5/8" barbed by 10 AN male fitting! Earls also has a tubing compression by male or female AN adapter in many sizes for all the other hose connections. Unfortunately, both companies only make these fitting in blue anodized color, the Endura finish is not available in these fittings. You can polish the anodizing off to get a stainless or chrome look if you want. I would change the 3/4" hose to 5/8" just to make it eaiser and look better. You can get adapters that will go from several different pipe threads to 10 AN.
The hoses that are shown in the pic are coming from the A/C condenser, but all of the hoses on my car are of this type. I am going to pull some of them out this week and replace sections of it with polished stainless hard tubing where it has to make some hard turns. The braided hose looks nice but it does not bend very well and looks crappy if you try and snake it around too much. You are right about the price on these clamps, and it is impossible to find them in combinations of didfferent sizes. This way I could make the clamps in the sizes I wanted and in the hose spacing that I wanted!

Regards, John McGraw

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

VNV,

Welcome to the club of people who have tried to adapt 10 AN hose to 5/8" heater hose, only to be thwarted at every turn! Luckily, Russell makes it a whole lot eaiser now. Thier part # 670320 is, in fact, a 5/8" barbed by 10 AN male fitting! Earls also has a tubing compression by male or female AN adapter in many sizes for all the other hose connections. Unfortunately, both companies only make these fitting in blue anodized color, the Endura finish is not available in these fittings. You can polish the anodizing off to get a stainless or chrome look if you want. I would change the 3/4" hose to 5/8" just to make it eaiser and look better. You can get adapters that will go from several different pipe threads to 10 AN.
The hoses that are shown in the pic are coming from the A/C condenser, but all of the hoses on my car are of this type. I am going to pull some of them out this week and replace sections of it with polished stainless hard tubing where it has to make some hard turns. The braided hose looks nice but it does not bend very well and looks crappy if you try and snake it around too much. You are right about the price on these clamps, and it is impossible to find them in combinations of didfferent sizes. This way I could make the clamps in the sizes I wanted and in the hose spacing that I wanted!

Regards, John McGraw

Heh John,
I saw those fittings but I thought it was for there special flex hose do dads and was not an excat 5/8". I also need the 3/4" . Blue is ok with me. I'll revisit those part numbers.

Are they in fact ..5/8" and 3/4" Barb Connectors..??

So what would be the part number for the AN12 3/4" BarB??



What Pooooo's me is there are no spec's on there web pages for demesions. You can't call Russell for tech Support...only freaken email..!!! And Earl's is in that land down under .....and that is a $12.41 or someting like that a min phone call... I ordered Catalogs 3 weweks ago from these clowns....and still nothing..!!


Thanks again. Post some more pic's of your Plumbing... I like what your doing.. Very nice...

 

[John Mcgraw]

VNV,
Yes they are truly 5/8" barb. I went with both hoses being 10AN just for a better look. On my car, I could reduce the hose before it comes out the firewall, so I have nothing but the 2 #10 hoses showing. I would guess that they also have a 3/4" barb by 12 AN, but have never used one.

 

[IH2LOSE]

John we could all use a picture of the plumbing you are doing. I am trying to put together my parts list for plumbing and try an get my evaporator set before the week end.