Before beginning the crimping operation, make sure your marks are lined up to ensure proper clocking of the hose and fitting.Before beginning the crimping operation, make sure your marks are lined up to ensure prope Scaring The Crimp Outta Ya! As well-engineered as the Vintage Air Sure Fit kit is, there are just a few variables that you're gonna have to deal with. One of them is routing, cutting, and crimping the hoses from the compressor, condenser and evaporator. We further complicated matters by adding the FrontRunner drive system, which positions the compressor on the passenger side of the engine, rather than the driver side. No matter what, you'll have to determine the proper length of the hoses, position them properly, and mark them for correct clocking, then crimp the correct fittings to them. Now you can place the hose and fitting together in the crimping tool, making sure equal amounts of fitting are showing on either side of the tool.Now you can place the hose and fitting together in the crimping tool, making sure equal am The hoses all use a "bead lock" crimp, which requires a special crimping tool. Once you have the hoses and fittings marked you can bring them to a local A/C repair shop and have them complete the job for you, or you can beg, borrow, or buy the proper tool and do it yourself. You can also send the hoses to Vintage Air, and they will crimp them at no charge (you'll just have to cover the freight).The Bead Lock crimper is a fairly expensive tool, however, so unless you're planning on making a living installing or repairing A/C systems, buying one is probably out of the question. We were lucky enough to have a friend with a bead lock crimping tool, and while his shop was closed one weekend, we borrowed it to complete our job. The crimping tool uses six anvils that are compressed to form a leak-proof seal with the hose.The crimping tool uses six anvils that are compressed to form a leak-proof seal with the h Now you can place the hose and fitting together in the crimping tool, making sure equal amounts of fitting are showing on either side of the tool.Now you can place the hose and fitting together in the crimping tool, making sure equal am Here's what our fitting looks like after being properly crimped on the hose. To check it, try to rotate the hose inside the fitting; no movement means you've got a good seal.Here's what our fitting looks like after being properly crimped on the hose. To check it, SOURCES Detroit Speed Inc. 185 McKenzie RD Mooresville NC 28115 704-662-3272 www.detroitspeed.com Vintage Air 18865 Goll Street San Antonio TX 78266 800-862-6658 www.vintageair.com « | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | View Full Article By Chuck Hansen Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
71Chevelle_4dr 5/15/2011 at 11:07 PM O U T S T A N D I N G. Terrific article on the installation of the Vintage Air Gen IV Sure Fit A/C system on this Chevelle. A great system indeed, made even more attractive by these excellent, clear and beautiful, step-by-step instructions & photos! As always, well done Mr. Hansen. Kudos for a well presented project with your personal and cordial observations.
