DIY: How to assemble Earl's-type AN fittings on steel braided line

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fiznat
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Installing AN fittings on steel braided line can be a long, painful experience if you dont know how to do it correctly. Following these tips will make the job much easier, and hopefully pain-free.

What not to do:Trying to cut steel braided line without proper preperation will most likely lead to a situation like the one pictured below. Strands of the metal tend to peel off, which are not only sharp, but prevent proper fitment with the female AN ends. If your hose looks like this, give up right now on trying to fit it into an AN end, and prepare to have your fingers perforated time and time again by small, sharp metal.

Tape the line:The secret to making (and keeping) smooth cuts with steel braided line is to first run some tape around the area you plan to cut, like so:I used duct tape, although other types of tape do work. Feel free to experiment with different types of tape if you are really that bored.

Cutting:I found that it was easiest to cut the line using a rotary tool like a Dremel. You can also use a hack saw (with a sharp blade!), chop saw, whatever you have around. The idea is to make as smooth a cut as possible. Even a single metal strand sticking out can cause serious problems when trying to assemble the AN fitting.A finished cut should have some tape remaining on the end, as shown. Be careful not to leave too much tape on the end-- if you leave too much, it will stick out the end of the AN fitting, and look horrible.

Putting it together:This step is a little bit like "movie magic" where the next pic shows the parts all assembled and ready to go, but truthfully this is where most of the work is for assembling these parts. Basically work the nice cut you just made into the female (non threaded!) side of the AN fitting. Often it helps to rub a thin layer of engine oil on the inside of the fitting or on the tape near the cut to help lubricate things, but it will still probably require quite a bit of work. Force the line up into the fitting as far as it will go, and dont stop till you get there. It is a pain, but its worth it and necessary for a good seal on your connection. Once you are done, you can teflon tape and install the male ends for your AN connectors.

You are the man!Step back and admire the job you did. Mention to at least 3 people that you are "king of the garage," and bring the pain if anyone dares to roll their eyes.


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onosqv
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OMG, in the most manly way possible, I LUV U MAN! Feels like the post was made just for me, hehe.

Just to verify those are swivel hose ends correct (since I think there's a gagillion different type of hose ends you can buy)?

So leave the tape on the line...

This post answered so many questions & the pictures are worth a billion words, or 1 million pictures .

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onosqv
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O, and to clear up things for me (and hopefully others):

1) Should these be used w/ teflon tape or thread sealant when installing (on the male end)? I was reading Aeroquip's tech info & they said something about not using it on 37 degree tapered fittings, but on others...?

2) How much torque should be applied to these lines (-10 an & -4 an in particular)? These are just a couple things that ppl usually skip when they explain installing turbos .

Man, you've seriously saved my *** (and my wallet) w/ all your DIY posts, you should compile it into a book, haha.

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fiznat
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No problem man. I've been meaning to write this one for a while-- kinda forgot about it till I saw your post asking how to do it.

Your questions:

-Mine were just regular 90* ends, not swivel ends, although I believe the instalation process is exactly the same. The hoses all connect like this-- what happens aferwards isnt important

-I used teflon tape and had no problems. I dont really know anything about why they reccomend using sealant instead of tape. I dont like using the sealant because it gets goopy and nasty, so I used tape and had no problems whatsoever.

-I didnt torque them, but basically finger tight and then another 1/2-3/4 turn beyond that? They dont have to be real tight at all, and you need to be careful with the soft aluminum.

deezlins
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You've pulled through again fizzy, nice write-up

MaDD_Drizzle
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oh man...lol I am reading this now and i kinda wanted to look at the pics which dont show up anymore to see if im doing it correctly....oh well

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turbo2nr
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thank you i need to make some lines b/c of my top feed setup, this will help alot, but the pic dont work for me. i dont know its probaby my gay computer..but thats for the write up very helpful

dsylvia
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hey man, the pics and write up can also be found on my site. heres a link....http://www.project-mayhem04.co....html

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fiznat
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lol suuuuuure, as soon as I "fix" the intake manifold pictures, you guys want me to fix all my other ones as well?!? Jeeezzzzz!

KATwo40
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The "white square, red X" police are onto you, Fiz!

FliMSiCaL
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i'm thinking that when i go to installing larger lines in mine, i'm gonna pilfer usage of the goodyear hose crimper at work :P 2000 psi stainless steel braided heat/gas/oil resistant hose= very cool and somewhat free!


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