I have an Oil Cooler hardline that has been straightened by a previous owner unknown to me. Now I am not 100% sure what the material is but a few people have mentioned copper. The question I ask of you, the Grassroots community, is should I try to rebend this line:
to look more like this one:
If you look closely to the center part of the hard line, each end bends in. This is meant to follow the frame rail in the engine bay. The first pic shows the left hand side as being straightened. This is to mate the dual oil coolers in the car. Should I attempt to rebend this myself?
That's a lot of rebending. If it's like my RX7 stuff, it's a pretty soft steel meaning it will be very easy to kink unless supported. See if you can find an appropriate diameter electrical conduit or copper tubing bender at the local hardware store.
Doesn't look like copper to me, either. Wrong sort of shine and the corrosion on it is the wrong colour as well. As J-man said, easy to kink if it's steel - you might be better off trying to get another line.
But, ........if you have to buy a new one anyway, ...why not destroy this one vying for greatness?
got a hyndraulic place near you that can bend up a new line?
It may or may not work, but I have bent lines by filling them with water and freezing them. It will help keep them from kinking. Sand works too, but I don't think I would want to use it on a oil line. If they have been bent before they may be too work hardened to bend again without cracking. Good luck.
Well, I could always go with a braided steel line with new fittings on both ends if I mess this up. The amount of bending that has to occur is only in two places. If I could take a 3d photo you would see what I mean. The section that looks too straight needs to have two bends in it to shorten the line on the drivers side by about 1.5 inches.
I think this thing new is $200 from Mazda.
Time to get a torch, heat this baby up and vie for greatness. I will let you know how it goes.
Toyman01 wrote:
If they have been bent before they may be too work hardened to bend again without cracking. Good luck.
That is the part that scares me.. they have been bent once, they are bound to be weaker the second time.
cwh
SuperDork
2/7/10 10:02 a.m.
Torching it should relieve the work hardening.
I was gonna suggest getting some stainless braided line and new ends. Several GRM advertisers sell it, including Pegasus. I prefer the Russells brand.
I assume this is for a rotary. If so, banjos in that size (18 mm) are not exactly inexpensive. That's what I used on the Jensenator. Bat Inc (MOCAL distributor and GRM advertiser) has them.
Try this out. It's a technique for fixing crushed oil lines on 911s and might be applicable to your situation.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/403622-fixed-my-crushed-oil-line-5-beer.html
welp, the oil line completely kinked as I vied for greatness...
No biggie, I know a hydralics guy who can decouple my current fittings and squeeze them into a new line for fairl cheap, and it will be FLEXIBLE! :)
