Anyone bend Nicopp fuel line?

[70chall440]

Thank you sir! I was able to bend some of the line I have by packing it with dry sand. That said, no way I can use this for the entire feed or return line because I would have to fill the entire line which might be 7" long. Here is what was able to get made though.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Thank you sir! I was able to bend some of the line I have by packing it with dry sand. That said, no way I can use this for the entire feed or return line because I would have to fill the entire line which might be 7" long. Here is what was able to get made though.

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Waiting to hear how you like the FiTech Six Pack...

 

[70chall440]

We will see, I am pretty optimistic about it, I have a lot more work to do on this car to include putting a wiring harness in it..

 

[1 Wild R/T]

We will see, I am pretty optimistic about it, I have a lot more work to do on this car to include putting a wiring harness in it..

So in the next couple days huh???

 

[70chall440]

LOL yeah sure..

 

[1 Wild R/T]

LOL yeah sure..

Hey, what else ya got to do during the quarantine? Get out there & make us proud...

 

[70chall440]

Ive used Nicopp line along with ss and regular steel and copper and aluminum. The Nicopp is the softest, so soft it is hard to keep it straight on long runs, (like down a frame rail.) If you want pro looking lines you need pro level tools. The best bang for the buck is the ridgid 600 line of tube benders. Go with swagelok if price is no object. I wouldn’t put sand in the tube, too risky if it doesn’t all come out. If you cant afford a good tools, try a little vaseline on the outside to help the tool slide around the radius easier. Also you can lube the inside with a small amount of motor oil and put wire ( 8ga for 3/8) through the tube to prevent it from crushing. Remember, only make one bend with the wire inside the tubing, then pull it back to where the next bend is as so on. If you do more than one bend with the wire inside it can get trapped inside. With good benders you shouldn’t have any problems and make bends like in the pictures.

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Just thought I would update this thread; so after all the input I ended up buying quite a lot of benders (like 4) plus I already had 4 or 5 and then to top it off a buddy brought me one. So, now I am very bender "heavy" and can bend pretty much anything size line I need to.

Based on Jeff's comments, I did order a Rigid 3/8" and a 1/2" bender and received them yesterday. The bender my buddy brought is a Swaglok 3/8" bender. Just for fun, I tried to bend this crap Nicopp line I have and as Jeff predicted, the good benders bend it very well.

I do love me some good tools... LOL I have spent almost as much on them as I have on cars.. (not really..). Decided I needed a 36" slip roller so I decided to build one of those.

 

[RoasterStrudel]

Looks good! I've never used the NiCopp stuff you guys speak of...I redid my car with aluminum fuel line several years ago. Although it's been fine so far, I thought about doing it again with an alternative metal because of today's ethanol fuels. All pump gas is E10 where I live, and considered running E85 on my next build as a race fuel alternative.

 

[Chargerjase]

I have done a lot of tube bending and I can tell you that Swagelok is the bomb.

 

[RJRENTON]

I have done a lot of tube bending and I can tell you that Swagelok is the bomb.

When I was in industry, Swagelok is the premier component to use when joining tubing to, for example, instrumentation or controller devices. When applied by their suggested methods, the joint does not leak.....good stuff. The only other component that comes close Swagelok is Imperial-Eastman.
BOB RENTON

 

[70chall440]

Well now I have a Swagloc 3/8" bender, a Rigid 3/8" and 1/2" benders (direct copies of the Swagloc design but longer), an Imperial 3/16, 5/16, 3/8" bender and a number of no name benders. I have tried all of them on the Nicopp line just out of curiosity and the Swagloc, Rigid and Imperial benders all seem to yield about the same results (good). I think I am good for a while..

 

[Rusty 72]

I just put all new NiCopp brake lines on my 72 Charger. The stuff I bought was magical to say the least. Flared easily, bends easily. I had the whole car done front to back in a hour. It tucked up next to the frame nicely and I was able to just push it into the corners where needed. I always used the steel lines they sell in rolls at Napa before. I guess time will tell if this new line lasts.

I just ordered some 3/8 NiCopp fuel line too and will be installing that next week.

 

[70chall440]

I just finished bending the steel fuel lines for this wagon I am working on. I bent up some of the Nicopp with my new benders and it does bend ok with them, but it will flatten with the cheaper benders. I suspect the 3/8 line I got was perhaps a bit hard or something as it did not like 90 deg bends in the cheap benders. After having worked with it, I don't think I would use it for fuel lines generally, I am however going to use some of the 3/16 line for brakes and I believe it will excel at that.