True. Anodizing isn't necessarily a colour process. What happens is that a layer of aluminium oxide is built up electrolytically. That has a porous surface when it comes out of the electrolysis process, which will readily absorb a dye. It's dipped in dye and then dipped quickly in boiling water to dissolve the outer layer of oxide and seal the dye in. Leaving out the dye dip gives you a "natural anodized" finish - basically the oxide that aluminium will get anyway when exposed to the elements and which forms a protective layer. It's a common finish on architectural aluminium components, along with bronze and gold anodizing. The problem is that the boiling-water dip isn't really very effective, so the finish will continue to absorb dirt and grease and soot until you have to polish the anodizing off to get it to look like anything. Just look at the grime on any '50s/'60s commercial building that doesn't get a lot of maintenance. Personally I prefer the look of brass - on vehicle plumbing and buildings.
Thats what I did for all the fuel lines and fittings on my front engine dragster. Their all stainless, they look good, and the tech guys passed them.
Could be worse, the hydraulic lines in the planes I work with are painted pink . . and they have the AN fittings on em.
I did all my hot rod lines with AN fittings. My rides not traditional, but even still I ran the fittings through the sand blaster before use. I love the raw aluminum look. That particular color of red and blue gives me a grand-mal seizure...
#### And in my opinion the anodizing does a very poor job !! Like I said before alcohol eats the pretty red stuff right off. That's why I will use brass or stainless fittings only when running alcohol for fuel !! Once again this is my opinion and I speek from experience as I have had over the years !!! >>>>.
they make AN ends in steel for areas where the aluminum would be eaten, it's a matter of using the right ends and adaptors in the right places. Aluminum is fine for a lot of areas, but for areas where it's exposed to corrosives you use steel ends. as far as the braid, any quality line such as earls or Aeroquip is still stainless, if something was so cheap it used crap overbraid,I wouldn't use it. The only place I would use overbraid is the main radiator hoses, simply because it can be difficult to convert them to threaded fittings, and fittings and hose that size are very expensive. also a regular radiator hose is the most likely hose to go out on the road, so it makes it easy to swap in a spare. Aeroquip makes decent stainless overbraid with quality ends for this, also if you don't like the fake ends, you can spend a little and get solid hose clamps, they look a whole lot better then the standard worm drives.
Stainless is best. The cheaper AN fittings may be soft anodized. The aircraft ones I have used had been hard anodized, but you are only supposed to use them once, once you take color off at the flare, the anodization is compromised. The race stuff I have used is push lock AQP AN-08 hard anodized. Kind of pricey, but worth it. But they and the AQP-FC332 only have a 2-4 year lifespan, and if I was running methanol, I would drain it down and flush it with argon after every race night. That's how I did it, but results may vary. If you pull your filters and you see black dust, your hose is breaking down. Even E10 will do it. I figure about 2 years on methanol, but really as cheap as the hose is, you could replace it every year. The hard anodized push lock socketless fittings are good for about 4 years on methanol. Not all fittings are created equal. Eaton- Aeroquip's best is all I will use. I used to make crimped stainless hydraulic hoses for fuel lines and just switched to the hard anodized push lock and FC-332-8 a few years ago. No customer complaints. My car has it, and it at two years and no break down at all on pump gas. Its good for 700 hp. This has been mostly on drag cars, or methanol injected 410 Sprints.
32ratsass made a good comment about re-usable or made-up fittings permanently crimped on. Available from hydraulic stores and the like. Here's a home-made hose. And a cookie tin full. Here's the easy answer for you when you see stuff you don't like. Don't put it on your frickin car, ya know? If someone else likes it, so what. Doesn't make his car any less a hot rod than yours is....
Very well said C9. I just use what works for me and when something quits working or starts giving me trouble I go straight to the source of the problem no matter if it's a simple fitting or an engine part !! >>>>.
Agreed... Its always a progression...everything is, AND, always, at least in part some kind of compromise... I am not looking to lessen the lifespan of my fuel system anymore than I can get out of it, so I imagine I'll leave my disco-ass aeroquip and earl's shit alone, it can stay red and blue, for now, but I REALLY like the hydraulic fitting and hose idea...I should have thought of that, too, I used to use/make hoses for our trucks and loaders, and what not, and never thought to use that for fuel...but, it was 10 years ago I was in the truck shop, so....it never occured to me. Good idea... If anyone wants to make fun of my fuel fittings, I probably won't hear them over the headers, anyway... My street cars ( WITH hoods...) always just use rubber, because, honestly, besides being non-funky-colored, its just plain cheap and simple... I had hard plumbed steel and brass on my coupe ( tri-power setup ), because it was hoodless. I would not have been able to bear them in that application....
Exactly. I get tickled by guys who want to "excommunicate" folks for having AN fittings on their ride. "I see those things, and I just walk away." Damn, don't be so cruel, how will they survive without you looking at their car and giving them your approval? That just makes me laugh. Some folks on here have a pretty high opinion of their opinion. I tell you what, people use them because they WORK. Earl's makes them in black if the red/blue insults your sensibilities, and if you have one corrode away, you used the wrong fitting in the first place. Nearly every male fitting can be had in brass, steel, stainless, and aluminum, and nearly every female fitting can be had in steel, stainless, and aluminum. There's no excuse besides stupidity for having a plumbing failure with AN hardware. They are technology been proven in the worst environments in the world, so riding on a hot rod is a walk in the park comparatively. If you get a failure, the reason is likely looking back at you in the mirror.
THANK YOU!! I did mine for function not for looks, also have some of the aircraft yellow ones, bunch of the fittings are brand new vintage eighties, found a bunch of them for sale in a bag from Nelson Dunn, still in the wrappings in one big bag. I hope when I get this done people will appreciate how much work it took to convert everything over from plain rubber hoses, almost everything was push on barbed fittings, each one had to have an adaptor machined then welded on to the place where the barbed fitting was.
Originally, the color of the fitting would depend on the fluid running through it. Red for one blue for another, black for a third...you get it. So thats why they were colored. And anodizing was a cheap, easy and durable way to color them. Rob
Technical description; The AN thread is a particular type of fitting used to connect flexible hoses and rigid metal tubing that carry fluid. It is a US military-derived specification stemming from a joint standard agreed upon by the Army and Navy, hence AN. The standard is sometimes mistakenly referred to as "Air Force-Navy", but it dates back to World War Two, before there was a separate US Air Force. AN sizes range from -2 (dash two) to -32 in irregular steps, with each step equating to the OD (outside diameter) of the tubing in 1/16" increments. Therefore, a -8 AN size would be equal to 1/2" OD tube (8 x 1/16 = 1/2). However, this system does not specify the ID (inside diameter) of the tubing because the tube wall can vary in thickness. Each AN size also uses its own standard thread size. AN fittings are a flare fitting, using 37° flared tubing to form a metal-metal seal. They are similar to other 37° flared fittings, such as JIC fittings, which is their industrial variant. The two are interchangeable in theory, though this is typically not recommended due to the exacting specifications and demands of the aerospace industry. The differences between them relate to thread class (how tight a fit the threads are) and the metals used. The color is for identification; Where it applies, the material composition of the fitting it'self and for fluid identification; The manufacturer of the Aircarft has the choice. In some, the Aluminum fittings were typically blue for oil, red for fuel. Carbon steel , for very high pressure fluids are black, Stainless Steel natural.
Funny... I don't know who rated this thread but I think it turned out to be pretty educational. I'm guessing they prob didnt even read the bulk of this thread... just seen AN fittings and said "fuck-that"[TM] I'm not a fan of the color but its cool to know you can strip them off... and if you look at the second link I posted earlier you can see Norwell's use with the braided hose... those look sweet. The history rules-
BTW, just an FYI for the guys stripping the ano off their AN fittings with oven cleaner or lye, realize that by doing so, you are actually significantly reducing the life of the fitting and the system it services. Aluminum will corrode and be much more susceptible to damage without it's ano coat. Instead of using aluminum fittings and compromising them (nearly guaranteeing an eventual failure), buy stainless fittings and leave them au-natural, or buy the black anodized fittings to begin with. Hell, you could just paint the damned things and be 100% better off than stripping away the protective anodize layer. Aluminum is very soft, but aluminum oxide (which is what ano really is) is very hard. The ano is there for a reason, and it isn't just to hold that red or blue dye in place.
Bingo CoolHand !!! If you hit the aluminum fittings with any chemical strong enough to eat the anodized coating off of the fitting you had better figure out a way to neutralize the process or you will really have a mess !!! >>>>.
The sight of over-tightened worm-drive hose clamps and rubber hose is not that pretty either, yet a great many run them and no one complains. Hell, I'll admit it, I think the black fittings and black hose look pretty good on some rides and probably safer too.
I'm guessing they read the rant at the front , written with the erroneous premise that AN Fittings are OT and somehow not traditional, and didn't wait around to read anything else.
Be careful of what parts you mix up. Brass is on 45 degree, JIC/AN on 37 degree. I'm trying some ends that use black pushlock type hose combined with steel lines with inverted flare ends. I'm doing everything I can to avoid race car AN type hose ends. AN stuff and braided stainless hose has its place, not on my hot rod.
Norwell's car looks great!...its simple-minded to judge all cars based on one detail. Example: Yeah...I just keep on walking when I see "non-trad" crap like this, with AN fittings/braided lines.... This is MUCH better, since after all, it has rubber lines... Some of you guys get so hung up on the trees, you miss the forest. It kind of all depends on much more than any single detail, doesn't it?
My beef is with steel braided stuff. Why not use copper tubing and brass fittings. HERE http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=342112
yeah some of the red and blue fittings aren't the best looking things but the new black and silver stuff is really good looking imo. but seriously, they're just fittings. who cares? and btw if someone had the nerve to tell me i almost had a nice car because of some an fittings i'm pretty sure i'd tell them to fuck off.
Truth. That fitting will corrode like hell. Hard anodizing is important. PTFE interlined fuel line is good too, it has cut down on collision fires considerably on the Sprints and Late Models A and B because it stretches just enough to contain the fuel long enough to get down some foam.
Feel free to puke as you put it......it's on me this time........I kid..I kid...........he he hee, Littleman......I''ll spot ya three car lengths.......If you have ever seen how many times I have changed jets @ the DragStrip you would understand their value.......Good stuff..I love them, but if the black ones made me faster..they would be black...I find them used all the time @ the swapmeets and buy them when I see them for cheap, but obvious not for everyone, some get their stuff running and never touch it..Littleman I will add this.....it really is about whatever floats your boat.......mine is afloat sailing where ever I steer it.....not influenced by too much and I am not trying to sink anyone elses.......
Fatigue, Pressure, and Physical Damage All things that copper/brass is susceptible to, which braided stainless covered teflon composite tube is not.
Dave, you can no longer be my friend... I love these rants, its usually made by the same person who used one color to wire the whole electrical system and it looks like a birds nest under the dash.
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