Does anyone know where to get A/C hose repair ferrules? A few years ago I found some (power steering ferrules) that I used to re-crimp an AC line. They were unique because they had an offset large hole to lock onto the lock slot of the hose barb end. Just curious if anyone else has heard of these or knows who makes them. I suspect the AC shop I visited had had old inventory from the 90s...
I used a cut off wheel to remove the oem crimped hose clamps from the LS4 compressor end as well as the Fiero chassis aluminum hose ends. Then It was a matter of cutting the new A/C barrier hose to the proper length. Here are some pictures of the test fit:
While searching for the ferrules for the ends I came across several types for the OEM bead lock (the ferrule is locked between two beads on the fitting) fittings. Most of them required a larrger hole in the ferrule so you could push the ferrule past the beads and use a c-clip to retain it. I am sure those would work, but I also found some that had the larger hole offset: http://www.mobileacproducts.com/ferrules.asp
So these just slide into place, fit in-between the beads, then when centered by the hose they are locked into place. Pretty slick setup, so that is what I am going with. You can buy the ferrules in packs of 25 for each size and they come to about $1 per ferrule. So I am buying 25 of the #8 and #10 and will likely sell the left overs in the mall.
For crimping these, I am planning to just take the assembled hose with new ferrules to NAPA and have them crimp them for me. The other option is to buy a crimping tool... but they are about $150 for the cheapest one and I don't build A/C lines very often. One of the most compact crimpers I have found is the ATCO 3300 Handi-Clamp:
Originally posted by fieroguru: The A/C line ferrules arrived today so I put the A/C hose together. I did have to enlarge the offset hole in the ferrules to slide them over the factory ridges, but that wasn't much work for the die grinder.
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08:25 AM
Jun 3rd, 2013
FieroNate Member
Posts: 374 From: Fleetwood, PA, USA Registered: Jun 2001
Thats exactly what I was talking about. I used some a few years ago. Got them from an old A/C shop. Probably were sitting around collecting dust.
I spent the last two weeks trying to locate them as I don't have to re-do anything. However I can't seem to find them.
The link you posted no longer shows them as available. An ideas?
If you have extras PM me a price. I'll buy two of each from you so I can do exactly what you did.
On my swap I found it preferable to leave the Impala hose lengths in tact as it give me some room to move them around. If I shorten them I have almost zero room to move them.
On other thing that was of concern to me was the fiero side OD on the large hose seemed quite a bit smaller than the hose ID. DId you run into any seating or leaking issues?
