Hot Rods 57 FORD Build #2... Glutton for Punishment.

The #1 black car looks very vicious. Please do not change that color.

 

i must say as well, it looks deliciously evil.

 

AMEN !

Wait....I am not supposed to say this in this context, am I ?

 

I have one in nylon and one in copper and both have been trouble free for years. Both of my gauges are run through a port on the upper top rear of the block so no real heat source. If your running a line towards the front of the with headers and such I would only use copper.

What failed on the copper line? Split, cracked, kinked, ferrule came out?

 

I vote copper. I'm old enough to remember when nylon came out and people didn't understand that it wasn't as tough as copper. Plenty of stories from back then.

 

..............Very important.

 

Ditto ^^^^^
A couple of loops formed around a socket and you’re good.

 

Jeff, use copper simply because of the burst pressure. Extreme heat (like Arizona) or extreme cold (like your garage) would cause the vinyl to burst.

 

I have to respectfully disagree. I live in Toronto area (Ontario Canada) and have only ever used the vinyl tube. This includes my present year-round driver ... never had an issue of any sort.

 

I'm not sure which would/could fail so I have no opinion that way. However, we (several of us Midwesterners) were at the Pueblo mini-nats in '97. Ed was in his sbc Anglia when he suddenly pulled off of the road and the rest of us fell in behind him. He had lost all oil pressure, or at least his mechanical gauge told him. Turns out the plastic/nylon tube had broken right at the gauge. A couple of minutes cutting a quarter inch of tubing off, reinserting the tube/ferrule, tightening the nut, and all was well. If copper had failed I doubt it would have been such a simple fix. Of course had it not been right at the gauge it would not have been so easy.

So, no opinion or advice here, but the results of one real world experience.

I had plastic/nylon tubing to the mechanical oil pressure gauge in Clarence for 25 years without trouble. When I ordered new S-W gauges I bought all electrical units so no more tubing for me. My only reasoning was that I can hide electrical wires easier than tubing.

Honestly I doubt it will make much/any difference. If you do a quality job of installation (& I'm sure you will) I doubt you'll ever have a failure with either.

 

Jeff I would use the copper line. There will not be a vibration issue at the filter with it clamped to the valve cover. After the run along to cover put a loop, much like the brake lines, in it and clamp it to the fire wall prior to going through it. The loop will tolerate the engine movement all day long.

I used this method on my Boss 302 for both the oil pressure and oil temperature gauges and had no problems over the two seasons I raced the car. They were still in the car when I sold it to my brother after six years being back on the street.

 

I would use the copper as well, I much prefer it over the nylon, I have, in my younger days, had the nylon lines fail. As long as the copper is supported so the fittings aren’t supporting it you will be golden. Plus it just looks sooo much better then the nylon.

 

That Ultra copper is good stuff.... It does take heat to cure properly, but I've never had a leak when I've used it.

The guy that turned me onto it used instead of gaskets on a hobby stock with a heavily ported head, said he never had a leak.

 

Copper Coat was the "go to" sealant when I worked in the heavy equipment biz for any high temp/high pressure applications:


https://www.crcindustries.com/products/copper-coat-174-gasket-compound-4-fl-oz.html

 

Will there be exhaust after those tubes or just going to drop off the header?

 

I've heard an H or X helps with low end torque, but I'm planning on nice big long glasspacks, i want it to be loud, but not deafening, and it needs to crackle.

 

Using the 2 1/4" will make it a little quieter also versus having 2 1/2"-3". Mine has 3" with a H-pipe welded in and you really need hearing protection for any longer drives but I also don't have tailpipes.
I've also heard it helps improve torque a bit and makes the engine take on a different tone. One sound I dont like is the sound you get when you install a X downstream. Everyone I've heard they seem to make this "chirping" sound when you tramp on it.

 

I've recently been doing quite a bit of wiring, its not bad to fix up when you understand what which one does.

 

I do NOT do wiring ! I beat metal, roll metal, bend metal. The last thing I purchased was a Speedway kit and a fire extinguisher.