How do you "coil" fuel lines?

Not sure what the process is actually called but I am wondering how to bend fuel and oil lines into the nice loops. I have a tubing bender but it only bends to 180 degrees.

Thanks for the help.

 

Hello ck. I'm sure others will reply with a better way, but heres how I have coiled lines before with my imperial bender that has always worked for me, and its also a 180 degree bender.

I hope this is easy to understand, its one of those things thats hard to explain, but simple as can be to see it done.

1. I Just start out making my first 180 bend wherever I want the coil to start. Now I have a "u" shape.

2. To make the spiral, grab the leg of tubing that will be the "coiled" part, and bend it up(by hand) at a slight angle.

3. Now do another 180 bend. This will give you your first "loop". Repeat these steps til you have the desired amount of loops that you want.

Hope thats not too much of a mess to understand. The tighter of a radius that your bender does, the smaller the size that each loop will be. You could practice with a scrap brake line or something to get the feel for it. Hope this helps a little

Dan

 

I just wrap it around a steering column or whatever is layin around.

 

If you fill it with sand it will not kink. then wrap around anything. just make sure to blow out the line real good afterwards.

 

Thanks for the help I'll be trying it soon.

 

if you fill it with sand to keep it from kinking, make sure it's packed good and keep it topped off with sand because as you bend it, the inside of the tube will get slightly larger and could result in a kink....

 

I always use any round tubing or pvc or whatever. If you're careful you don't need to fill it with sand, unless you're making a VERY tight circle.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

I don't take shit; I don't give a shit. I'm not in the shit business.

 

I use a old hood spring. Wrap it around anf then unthread it off. The coils keep it spaced nice and even.

 

I like that !!!! I will shure try it next time.

 

I used to make trans coolers out of alum tubing. wrapped them around broom handles ,till i found out about the hood springs, that worked good.

 

When I bend fuel or brake lines, I take the tubing, hold it tight in one hand, and use the handle of my floor jack. I keep wrapping till I get the coil size I want...also allows for a little "give" in the line!!

 

At plumbing supply houses, they sell these 10" long springs/tubing the right diameter to just fit over your tubing and bend it without kinking. Cheap and they work well because the tubing is supported equally though-out the bend.

Not to hi-jack the thread, but I bought a roll of fuel line tubing. How to I flatten it out to get it into a straight run?

 

I've done it several times--I always run up to the local tire store and ask if I can bend the line on the post of their balancer machine. The balancers have nice big ACME threads with round channels in them. I always hold it against the post with one hand, and then smooth it down the threads with the other. Has always kept them from kinking on me.
The hood spring idea does sound like it would work too.
-Brad

 

"I bought a roll of fuel line tubing. How to I flatten it out to get it into a straight run?"

Just send it to the CKdesigns guy, and ask him to send you his straight piece. Done!

Actually, rolling it on a flat surface (after uncoiling to some semblance of straight) while pressing down on it with a flat board will do a lot.

 

A 1 quart glass soda bottle makes a nice size coil - you can also find lots of cans around about the right diameter to make a nice cool-can with a coil this diameter... Of course it is now 2006 and finding glass bottles is not as easy as it used to be! They are all metric dimensions now too - what is equivalent to a quart in liters (sigh). Life was a lot simpler in the 60s!

 

Mmmmmm...beer.

 

When I was out in Iowa last month they had 5 Liter(yes!) can of beer in the supermarket. That would have been a nice size coil.

 

i always use a beer bottle, but you have to empty it first and if you kink the line just empty another bottle and try again

 

I have a bunch of spare v belt pulleys of all different sizes layin around works great for bending tubing just wrap it around the pulley then unscrew and repeat as necesarry.

 

I know it looks cool, but does coiling the lines have any actual mechanical significance? ie does it improve soemthig or reduce the effect of somehting?

Cheers,

Paul

PS. Love the hood spring idea

 

Thanks for all the replies. Now another question or two.

Why do people bend loops into lines?

Is it fashion or function?

 

shit'll work harden and break.

 

it allows for expansion and contraction of the line from having to be run from a stationary member to a slightly moving one. this sets up vibrations which in case of a straight tubing piece would rupture. it doesnt mean you should swap your heater hoses to coiled tube, but anything that only moves slightly can probably done effectively. you dont need a whole lot of coils to do this either, maybe just one or two. however coils are really cool looking.

 

In the refrigeration industry the old timers would always put a loop or two right near the flare connection uaually at the compressor. It allows the compressor to move on it's rubber mounts. In the event that the flare cracks, you can cut off the damaged flare, staighten the last loop and reflare the tube without having to patch it together.

 

I think all the guys with the comments about expansion/contraction and/or relative motion/vibration concerns are on the money as far as the "typical"reason for coiling hard-lines.

I have done it for two other semi-practical applications:

-"Cool Can" fabrication where you make a coil of line to place inside a can of ice for keeping fuel cool during racing.
-I tried it to provide alternative to the exhaust manifold "heat stove" to warm the auto-choke mech. on my '55 Chevy in-line six. The sheet metal for the old "heat stove" would not work with my Offy dual-carb intake so I made a coil of tubing and located it close to the exh. manifold in hopes that would heat the chokes enough to pull them off. It doesn't work but it looks cool!

 

In addition to the above, it also allows the brake lines to remain intact in the event of an accident (allowing you to stop the car after impact). It's also a good way use up excessive lenght of a pre-made line.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!

 

Glad I was able to find this one. I was about to throw my bender out in the road. I'm gonna hunt up a hood spring tomorrow at work.......any better procedures for bigger (3/8") copper line that works better?

 

I use my vice for straightening lines. I'll get it as straight as I can, then lightly clamp it between the vice jaws 5" at a time to get it nice and straight. It works well for smaller straights, but long front to backs are still somewhat wavy. I'll try the board thing next time I have to bend some up.

 

loops are called "mechanics loops" extra length for servicing

 

Metric coils in an old hotrod just looks wrong!