[DeTomaso] LPC -Tool Report on New Tools That I've Found as I Finish My '73L

Chris Difani cdifani at pacbell.net
Tue Sep 9 00:58:29 EDT 2008


Fellow Pantera Wrench Drivers:

I've come across a couple of new tools as I'm rebuilding/remodeling my '73L that some of you may find of interest.

I'm at the point of finally plumbing my fuel system in, and one of my dilemmas has been that age old quandary of "smooth tubing" and "smooth rubber hose", which usually ends in "smooth rubber hose sliding off smooth tubing" at some very inopportune point in the future.

Now the factory, or well equipped "money is no object" shop usually has a nice bead maker. These are usually a variation on the WWII Parker tool... (which is selling in the US, for around $450 or so). While I've got a "well equipped" shop, I'm also lacking some tools.... and a bead maker is one of them. I just never had the desire to spend $450 or more, for a tool I might use a dozen times a year.... if I was lucky. 

But now I'm at that point where a bead maker would be really nice to have.... almost $450 worth of "nice".... but not quite... I had the shopping cart "loaded", but when it came time to click on that "Finalize Purchase", I froze. 

I locked up. I couldn't click that mouse button to save my life. 


So I gave up... decided to think of some other solution.... beg, borrow, or something... 

All this happened last week... and then this weekend as I was paging thru the Jeg's catalog, and I came across a miracle. It's a beader that costs $29.99 per "size". Or you can get an assortment. This little jewel is made by Earl's Performance, and is their EZ Tubing Beaders. They come in sizes from 3/8" to 2". It's designed for "soft" tubing, aluminum, copper, even thin wall steel, essentially any tubing that you can bend by hand should work with this beader.  

The beader is made from steel, and is very nicely designed. It's simple, and what's even better, the darn thing works! So far I've only used my 5/8" model, and that was on 5/8" OD aluminum fuel tubing. It made a beautiful bead. Simple to use, quick to use, and it works! However I must say that the bead height isn't as high as what the higher priced tools can generate. But I didn't spend almost five bills on it either! 

On a piece of 5/8" (.625") aluminum fuel line tubing, with a wall thickness of .031", the bead's outside diameter is .670", and the beginning diameter of the tubing is .621". This gave me a bead of approximately .025" height, or almost 1/32". From what I could find in my various engineering manuals, that height meets all the practical requirements to attain "non-slip" status. And it takes less than 3 minutes to make the bead. Plus the beaders are small enough that you can use them in confined spaces... like in an engine bay... 

This Summit URL will display all their EZ Beaders that they carry:  http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=700+4294925139+400041+115+4294803499

And if my URL gets stripped off by the list server, go to www.summitracing.com, and then search for "Tubing Beaders".

That link takes you to all their individual listed EX Tubing Beaders. They also have these in a kit of 9 beaders, 3/8" to 2", for $400 or so. 

One word of caution however, Summits is not the best price. I found two of my needed sizes thru Amazon, and the price difference was significant. But a word in Summit's defense, if you like their $10 "anywhere, almost anything" shipping cost, and really do want to buy whatever from them, call them and they'll beat any price they can substantiate. If you've got the URL for the competing website, they'll check it while you're on the phone. If you're talking "apples and apples", they'll beat that price by a dollar. And be happy while they're doing it. Good people to deal with.


Now one other tool that I've found useful. And that's a digital display torque wrench. I must confess that the normal torque wrench scale is hard for me to see. To make out the right numbers... let alone get all the little twist handle lines lined up, I have a difficult time doing it. The new style of torque wrenches that have a digital display have been wonderful. Unfortunately, for my pocket book, these tools are usually out of my budget's reach.... I don't use one enough to justify the $200 plus cost. Even if I have to stand there with a magnifying glass in one hand, and a high intensity light in the other, I'll do that rather than choke out $250 or more for a tool that I'm going to use once every 6 months.

Enter Harbor Freight. 

Yes, that's right. Harbor Freight. Home of all tools cheap! But this tool, this digital torque wrench is a darn good tool. In fact I've found it selling for over $200 at Contractors Warehouse, for $179.99 at "Torque Wrenches R Us", and similar prices at other locations. 

The punch line here is that Harbor Freight is selling these torque wrenches for $59.99. That's for the 3/8" size, and their 1/2" size. The 3/8" size is item 95840, and if the list server strips the URL, go to www.harborfreight.com, and enter 95840 into the Item Number search text box. 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95840


I wasn't able to locate the 1/2" size torque wrench on their web site, but I did find it at my local HF store, and for the same $59.99 price that the 3/8" model goes for. 

These aren't as  nice as the $300 models from Snap On, or CTI, but for sixty bucks, you really can't go wrong (a word of caution, these wrenches do not use a digital strain gauge, along with the digital display, like the really high priced units do. This is a normal "click" wrench with a digital number display). And seeing those nice big numbers is wonderful!! I've been able to retire my magnifying glass!

And all of these tools have been used on my Pantera.....

Chris

Chris Difani
'73 L #5829 "LITNNG"
The Electric Pantera
Sacramento, CA
Email: cdifani at pacbell.net 




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