I don't equate AN fitting and stainless hose to be "correct" on any street car (rod or musclecar) until the mid 70's. The car mags really started to push the trend in '74-'75 Race cars are a different story but even those cars I don't equate AN fittings to be correct until the mid 60's. Just because some guy worked for Boeing in 1953 and used them on his car does not make the trend correct. That is just an ancydotal example, not the norm.
I agree that the 70s totally made the look associated with that era, not from the era they were originally from. They can be used and look good if you play your cards right. Here are some AN fittings onTangerine Scream (aka Helen Wheels) that Matt from Fox Valley helped us out on.
Well,,thats part of the whole thing,,when is it "correct" only once its become a trend ?? I say hell no,,,anyone using parts prior to them becoming the 'trend' shows the parts were in fact used,and thats what makes it great. I say yes they were used ,I'll bet mostly on the dragsters then some street guy did it , though not the braided SS ,,think more cloth covered ,,and certainly not shrink wrapped.
Spotlite book 522 (shown above) is a kind of bible on good/higher end rodding practice on fuel systems. They seem to frequently recommend swedged fittings with whatever the heavy duty rubber type hose of the day was...neoprene?? This stuff was especially associated with Moon/Hilborn systems on racers, and would have been very impressive when used on street cars. Now...what exactly were those swedged fittings?? General usage was much like AN...standard swiveling ends on tubing, then adaptors to the fuel system parts or pipe threads. Flip a page or two, Wing!!
It has brass fittings using hose and clamps ,, he just asked if they were around in that time frame and if they were used,,and that would be yes,,thats all, its all pointless anymore,,who cares
Exactly- wasn't it the "traditional" guys who were the ones scrounging and making things for their cars to go faster/look cooler? If those items worked they became known through the hot rod community and ended up becoming a "trend". I would think that if a guy worked for Boieng in the 50's, made the hoses/fittings work on his hot rod then, they would be period correct.
you have to insert the hose into the fitting without anything on it, to keep the fraying down,you wrap the heck out of the line with electrical tape first,then cut through the tape, they sell a pair of what looks like heavy duty steel shears at home depot,they have curved blades, they will chop off AN lines up to -8 nice and clean. mine were around 35 bucks i think. they also make some plastic installation tools now, can't remember where i saw them, but they snap over a standard hose end,and you can use the tool to screw the end onto the hose, looks like a good idea, haven't tried it yet. I have the entire line of tools for doing this stuff. there's an art to running all these lines and making them all look right, takes a long time. Most of the AN stuff came from aircraft first, and it's as traditional as you can get to use surplus aircraft stuff on early cars.
they still make the black cloth covered hose,we get lines at work for the airplanes, and thats whats under the fires sleeves. it looks just like the black line with checks above but without the checks. fitting ends aren't red and blue eithier. it's braided line but the cloth is part of the braid.
The final product looks FANTASTIC! That would look right at home on any trad. car, IMO. I might just have to steal your idea, since you strip 'em down, I bet there's plenty of old ugly fittings that the muscle car and street rod guys don't want anymore that you can pick up cheap and then follow your instructions.
The Jalopy Journal
