Bending aluminum AC lines

[Extended Power]

Vintage Air lines which pass through the rad support, and go past the battery tray...
Instead of straight line through the support, I would like to make a 90* bend in the smaller line, and run it under/behind, or through the battery tray itself. (Just to hide the line)

I have bent thousands of feet of stainless steel in my life, from 1/8”, to 3/4”...using roller benders, and regular pull/slide benders.
I’m terrified of trying to bend this aluminum line with regular benders, as I have a fear it is just going to kink it.

Any advice from anyone who has bent these AC lines?

[A1971Blazer]

It won't kink if you bend it slowly, be sure to keep pressure against both sides of the bender, you can also heat it with a propane torch to help it flow more smoothly.
I bent several lines for my trans cooler out of aluminum tubing.

[Extended Power]

Originally Posted by A1971Blazer

It won't kink if you bend it slowly, be sure to keep pressure against both sides of the bender, you can also heat it with a propane torch to help it flow more smoothly.
I bent several lines for my trans cooler out of aluminum tubing.
Attachment 2301452

That looks great!
Excellent job!

Did you use a roller bender?

[A1971Blazer]

I used a standard store-bought bender for most of the bends.
For the tighter bends, I made a bender that is a roller type.
they both work equally well but I needed a smaller bend radius than the standard bender had.

[truckster]

I used a bender and heat, but you need to do it carefully. If you get it too hot the aluminum will melt. Heat it gently, moving the torch on and off the point you want to bend, until it just softens up a bit.

[A1971Blazer]

Originally Posted by truckster

I used a bender and heat, but you need to do it carefully.
If you get it too hot the aluminum will melt. Heat it gently, moving the torch on and off the point you want to bend, until it just softens up a bit.

exactly...it doesn't take a lot of heat to make it flow easier.....aluminum will start to melt at around 1100º F
Here's a bender I made for doing 5/8" AC hard lines...the Rigid bender makes a 5" diameter....mine makes a much tighter 3"
The bend in the last picture is a cold bend.....
BTW: the hole in the base serves no purpose, it was just already in the scrap piece I used....

[indymachinist]

I bent my lines with no heat. They are already soft and bend fine.

[Extended Power]

Originally Posted by A1971Blazer

exactly...it doesn't take a lot of heat to make it flow easier.....aluminum will start to melt at around 1100º F
Here's a bender I made for doing 5/8" AC hard lines...the Rigid bender makes a 5" diameter....mine makes a much tighter 3"
The bend in the last picture is a cold bend.....
BTW: the hole in the base serves no purpose, it was just already in the scrap piece I used....

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That’s as close to a roller bender as you can get.
All I have for the smaller line are these Imperial Eastman.
I will use some lube...

[truckster]

Originally Posted by A1971Blazer

exactly...it doesn't take a lot of heat to make it flow easier.....aluminum will start to melt at around 1100º F
Here's a bender I made for doing 5/8" AC hard lines...the Rigid bender makes a 5" diameter....mine makes a much tighter 3"
The bend in the last picture is a cold bend.....
BTW: the hole in the base serves no purpose, it was just already in the scrap piece I used....

Attachment 2301616

That's pretty! One of the reasons I bought a lathe was so I could make equipment like that. The problem is I have so many projects I haven't had the time to do it.

[A1971Blazer]

Originally Posted by truckster

That's pretty! One of the reasons I bought a lathe was so I could make equipment like that. The problem is I have so many projects I haven't had the time to do it.

Thanks for the kind words! That's one advantage of being blessed to have been in the machine shop business all my life.
When we have a contract job with a similar set-up it's easy to just run some fun stuff in with it....and the scrap is paid for by the customer....even better..!

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by A1971Blazer

exactly...it doesn't take a lot of heat to make it flow easier.....aluminum will start to melt at around 1100º F
Here's a bender I made for doing 5/8" AC hard lines...the Rigid bender makes a 5" diameter....mine makes a much tighter 3"
The bend in the last picture is a cold bend.....
BTW: the hole in the base serves no purpose, it was just already in the scrap piece I used....

Attachment 2301616

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They are advantages to work at a Machine shop for sure

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by truckster

That's pretty! One of the reasons I bought a lathe was so I could make equipment like that. The problem is I have so many projects I haven't had the time to do it.

I have to really control myself with this.

Every project makes another Project

I just enjoy it so much

That what I keep telling myself .

[A1971Blazer]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

I have to really control myself with this.

Every project makes another Project

I just enjoy it so much

That what I keep telling myself .

Here's one that was a little more than a quickie
I had to buy a piece of 4x4 square bar to make it
Milled it on the CNC and had it black anodized
Engraved the bowtie pierced with the lightning bolt into it...
All the wires will go neatly inside the fender...
This is truly one-of-a-kind

[A1971Blazer]

I found another pic of my hard lines after I painted them black
all that plumbing should disappear behind the grille

[Steeveedee]

^ Too cool! I had access to a machine shop, but it was Defense work, and that kind of stuff would get one fired in a hot second.

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by A1971Blazer

Here's one that was a little more than a quickie
I had to buy a piece of 4x4 square bar to make it
Milled it on the CNC and had it black anodized
Engraved the bowtie pierced with the lightning bolt into it...
All the wires will go neatly inside the fender...
This is truly one-of-a-kind
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Attachment 2301633

Very Nice


That took a Couple of Set-Up's.

Great job on the part And the engraving.

[Extended Power]

Originally Posted by A1971Blazer

Here's one that was a little more than a quickie
I had to buy a piece of 4x4 square bar to make it
Milled it on the CNC and had it black anodized
Engraved the bowtie pierced with the lightning bolt into it...
All the wires will go neatly inside the fender...
This is truly one-of-a-kind
Attachment 2301631

Attachment 2301632

Attachment 2301633

You could sell a ton of these!
Especially if you already had the CNC program to do it!

[A1971Blazer]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

^ Too cool! I had access to a machine shop, but it was Defense work, and that kind of stuff would get one fired in a hot second.

I know right?
I worked at a DOE facility for 20 years…we could occasionally sneak in a “government” job but it had to be done with the greatest of discretion.
I had a classified security clearance and worked on a lot of classified projects mostly military stuff…it was a fun job. The last 10 years I was there was on a 5” G&L horizontal CNC mill…we made several parts for the Seawolf submarine prototype.

[A1971Blazer]

Originally Posted by Extended Power

You could sell a ton of these!
Especially if you already had the CNC program to do it!

I’ve had a lot of inquiries but these would be very expensive to manufacture.
There’s about 8 hours of run time just to contour the outside surface alone.
If I run short of contract work I might consider it.