Although I realize that most of the club members here did not "build" their cars, perhaps some of you will actually do this kind of upgrade, or perhaps one of you will actually build their own kit car one day. But I discovered this while building my car and it is a worth while tip to pass on.
You can find a lot of videos on YouTube about how to put an end fitting onto braided steel hose, and some of them even point out that there are various ways to cut the hose, ie; Fine tooth hack saw, cutting disc or even a cable cutter. But all of them recommend that tape be wrapped very tightly (make that VERY TIGHTLY) around the hose, and that the cut be made across the tape to avoid having the braided hose wrapping flare out at the ends. Once that wrapper becomes flared, you are NEVER going to get that hose end fitting onto the hose !
So my technique requires you to acquire some wide cable ties, and to wrap one of them VERY tightly around the hose at the point where you want to make your cut. Take your cutting disc tool (yes, this leaves some dust inside the hose) and make your cut by cutting a very slight amount from the cable tie - make the cut quickly, do not hesitate and go cleanly all the way through the hose. The cable tie should slip reasonably simply off the end of the hose once your cut has been made.
You will find that the hose wrapper will not flare, and that the cut should be clean with no frayed steel wires sticking - if you went quickly through the hose.
There will be some hose dust that will come out when you tap the hose fitting onto your work bench. This is done to insure that the hose itself is plumb up against the inside of the fitting. In fact, make a mark on the hose at the hose end of the fitting, so you can insure that when you insert the end cap of the fitting, that it does not force the hose to walk back out of the fitting itself.
Use a fitting box tool (it is available all over the place) to hold the fitting while you twist fit the hose into the fitting. Believe me, this is the best tool you will ever buy (thanks again to Cory for loaning me his).
Once your fittings are on both ends of your hose, take a high pressure water hose and rinse out the hose to remove all debris, dust or possible steel wires from the hose wrapper cut. Then take alcohol, and pour it through the hose and finally, haul your hoses off to your local gas station, and use their high pressure air hose to blast your hoses dry and to make double damn sure there is no debris inside that hose. You do not want steel wires getting pulled through your oil hose or filter !
Hope that anyone who tries this, has the same good luck as I did - this method works great and precludes you from having to buy extra length hose, just to have enough hose to cover up for any mistakes you make while cutting it!
And lest I forget, you can get a better price on braided steel hose and fittings, at Jegs or Summit Racing, than just about anywhere else - and - they will deliver quickly based upon your shipping requirements.
). The only drawback is that (as far as I know) the fittings have to be "swedged" on with the proper tooling. Gene Berg Ent. used to sell made up hoses at reasonable prices, and industrial supply places will do it or know who does locally.
