Cooler lines question

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rebeldart

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So I had a stock set I bought a year or so ago, but with TTI's and B&M shifter hardware this ain't working very well - bad day in the garage and the family knows it ! Anyway - after yanking the first one in and out 3-4 times, bending and re-bending it may work but is awful close to header tube. The second (front) one is a joke - no way it'll work without major re-routing and a sharp 90 plus other alterations. My question is: should I start from scratch and go aftermarket and not use the radiator ? Can I use aluminum tubing or any recommendations on what would be easiest ? What I thought would take 30 minutes has turned into a cruel joke. I'll take all the advise/recommendations/pictures I can get - thanks.
 
Aluminum tubing will work fine as long as it's seamless. You have to use some type of cooler so you can't just bypass the radiator without adding a good aftermarket cooler.

Another consideration might be using low pressure hydraulic hose with barb fittings. I always double clamp them for saftey and don't crank the clamps down super tight or it'll cut into the line. You only need hose that's good to 100 lbs. and most low press hyd hose is good to at least 150. Look in the yellow pages for a hydraulic supply store or sometimes you'll find it at some auto suppliers like NAPA. Nice thing about using hose is it's easy to route. Just gotta be careful and route it away from header pipes.
 
I used a combination of stock lines and aluminum tubing in order to feed the radiator cooler and then an external unit. Fabbing up lines is more time consuming than using hose but the aluminum is really easy to form and flare.

I have steel lines with factory bends coming off the trans to a point which are then joined to aluminum via flaired unions. The aluminum allowed easy custom routing - and it looks good.
 
Thanks - I'll look into both. One issue is on the front line - I'll need to do a 90 right out of the outlet (inlet?) to clear B & M hardware. I'm sure I could get a 90 out of the aluminum - but if I went hose, it'd require an elbow fitting and don't know if that would be restrictive ?
 
Rebeldart please keep up to date as to how you solve this problim.I had the same problim last year on my 74 roadrunner in the winter no heat, ya family saw me coming they dissapeared lol.I ended up#$%^&*( up 3 lines to get a 90 bend in steel lines with a slight kink i was pissed all summer about this on.You would think the boys at B&M would solve this promlim.So let us know how you get with this why for me I plan on a B&M shifter for my 69 dart very soon.The family is already talking of moving out.Good luck.
 
i use braided steel line to frt an had no problems . some self tapping screws an clamps , barbed fitting for trans . ran it up along the body by the steering box. mounted it on the in side of rad cooling fan on the outside .thought about bolting to tail shaft but live on dirt rd an figured it would just fill up with sand also thought about one of those cyc looking kind that ive seen an just mounting it to the frame connector .i sometimes think out of the box as long as there good air flow . drag race only dont even use one pipe plug the hole .
 
rebeldart said:
Thanks - I'll look into both. One issue is on the front line - I'll need to do a 90 right out of the outlet (inlet?) to clear B & M hardware. I'm sure I could get a 90 out of the aluminum - but if I went hose, it'd require an elbow fitting and don't know if that would be restrictive ?
Click to expand...

A 90* fitting won't hurt. The opening in them is the same i.d. as a regular fitting. BTW: they have long and short 90* fittings so you can use that to tailor it to fit the best.
 
Thanks all - I'll post update in a few days, stock lines are officially trashed and worthless, hydraulic hose w/nipples and clamps looking better all the time.
 
Oh boy I just went through this and messed my reproduction lines all up trying to get them to work. I ended up using my old engine and an extra trans with my header mounted to them to fab up new lines out of 70" 5/16" tubing. I had to use a compression fitting up by the motor mount because the passenger's side was not long enough. It turned out really nice, far away from headers and steering linkage, and I can get the starter in and out no problem.

TransLines2.jpg
 
The 70" 5/16" tubing was purchased at a local auto parts store for like $10 a piece. It came with each end flared with a fitting. I discarded the male fitting and put the female fitting on. Only had to flare one end.

A lot of people run the lines down the frame rail. And I really like that idea but then I'd have to mess with the brake lines because they are in the way.
 
Why TTI doesn't say anything about this in their instructions is beyond me? If I would have known ahead of time it would have saved me hours of frustration. Luckily I had the other engine and trans so I could be in a nice comfortable posture when bending up the new lines.
 
rebeldart said:
So I had a stock set I bought a year or so ago, but with TTI's and B&M shifter hardware this ain't working very well - bad day in the garage and the family knows it ! Anyway - after yanking the first one in and out 3-4 times, bending and re-bending it may work but is awful close to header tube. The second (front) one is a joke - no way it'll work without major re-routing and a sharp 90 plus other alterations. My question is: should I start from scratch and go aftermarket and not use the radiator ? Can I use aluminum tubing or any recommendations on what would be easiest ? What I thought would take 30 minutes has turned into a cruel joke. I'll take all the advise/recommendations/pictures I can get - thanks.
Click to expand...

I have used these in the past on my truck for trans line adapters, then run to an external cooler. I ran a 6an line to the cooler then used push lock fittings to connect to the external trans cooler. Do not buy the barb fitting coolers, I have had the lines come off them even though they were double clamped. Purchase the ones that require a screw on fitting.

http://store.summitracing.com/partd...733687+4294839052+4294847275+115&autoview=sku
 
I used steel braided line with -6 fittings at the trans, rad and external cooler.

DSC01661.jpg
 
rebeldart said:
One issue is on the front line - I'll need to do a 90 right out of the outlet (inlet?) to clear B & M hardware.
Click to expand...

I had the same issue with the B&M cable bracket. I used a tubing bender to massage the steel line until it cleared. If I recall, I have the line bend up slightly before making a 90.
 
340sFastback - that looks great, but I see your TTI's arent in place in the photo (or the freakin' B & M hardware). Got enough here to work with to keep me busy this week. Sometimes I just lay under the car on the creeper and stare at the issues while listening to classic rock - looks like I'm busy though, and still beats the trash on TV ! I'm inspired now.
 
mancini sell them for like 49.95 by the time you spend bending ,cussing ,an what not better to just buy them , if i would have know that instead of using braided line i would have bought mine
 
Pretty much lost it today - got mad, bent 'em into spaghetti, slung 'em across the garage, felt great. I'm not a total moron in the garage, this thing is kickin' my butt. Between the B&M bracket and the TTI's - you need an exact bend and tweak or it's going to hit the bracket. Get this - thought I had the front one cleared, hard 90 degree bend (yes, slight upward angle Preston), then went to mount the bracket back up to the trans pan - barely cleared - slid shifter cable in and guess what was right in the way of the cable route ? Freakin' tube. I may be done, like Snake said above - this is a royal pain and B & M knows about this I'm sure (as well as the cables melting on your headers) why not a note or tips for installation ? I've bought lines, double flare tools, benders .... might take a sledge to it all. Of course that's how I feel tonight. May be able to give it another shot this week, but just sliding under there on the creeper is enough to get me worked up (and let the creeper wheels bind - or worse, pinch the back of my arm under a wheel, and I'll go off for sure ! I can see that there is no way an elbow fitting will screw in the front outlet due to the way the trans housing is shaped - gotta be a stock nipple with reverse flare - and I dont believe an elbow screwed onto the nipple will clear the B & M bracket. I know alot of you are saying "what's the big deal ?" Only Snake above and maybe 70Duster440 know what this is about. PITA ! This has been the most frustrating project of the whole three year resto ! Advise appreciated but I'd rather pay you to come do the job !
 
My sincerest apologies RebelDart! I should have told you to do a slight bend down, not up. Guess I'm suffering from early alzheimers. :banghead:

I mocked the lines up while the engine and trans were out of the car so I had a distinct advantage over lying under the car. Here's a picture. It may still have caused problems with your TTI's but I'm feeling pretty idiot right now.

bouchillonimg.jpg
 
I'll be doing the same project soon only with Hookers and a B&M.
Will I be looking at the same problem?


Put the hammer down!
Back away from the car!



This would make a good how to post.

Beer%20Picture%2018.jpg
 
Doesn't really need a "how to", but a note from B & M would have been nice letting us know the need to re-route the lines. I'll give it one more try this week.
 
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