PRI 2016: Koul Tools Making Hose Assembly Easier

We all have to build AN hoses, and we know the pain of assembling braided lines by hand. But stainless braided lines aren’t the only plumbing hassle in the shop, push-lock fittings can be a chore to assemble, and damaged AN fittings add up real quick in plumbing costs.

Dick Raczuk of Koul Tools Has been innovating tools to help enthusiasts since he retired from ownership of Kerker Exhaust in 1985, guess retirement will have to wait.

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“I’m a hobbyist and enthusiast myself of course, working on my own projects I started building my 1941 Graham Hollywood and decided to put a Cadillac Northstar in it, then I decided to twin-turbo it, which made for a lot of plumbing!” Raczuk recalled.

“I hadn’t done any plumbing before that, I designed my own tool and guys would come into the shop and say ‘that’s a cool tool,’ and in the past 10 years we’ve sold over 20,000 of these and never had one back.”

A fixture to hold your plumbing and a little mechanical advantage make easy work of assembly push-lock hoses. Raczuk explained;

“We have our EZ-ON hose press, I started doing push-lock fittings and couldn’t assemble them so I made a prototype and then went into production. This little EZ-ON hose press will do -4 to -16 push-lock fittings all in one little case.”

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The latest tool still in development is a play on Koul Tools Sureseat Lapping tool. Say you have a damaged or leaky fitting that is welded to another expensive part like a tank. You don’t want to have to cut welds and re attach a new fitting so Raczuk came up with a solution.

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“One of our latest tools is the Sureseat line-lapper. I was working on my ’35 Packard and had a fuel leak so I came up with the idea for this to save it,” he explained.

“Say you have a damaged fitting on a bung on a tank, you’re not going to take it off and put another one on. Now you’re going to be able to screw this sleeve on and come in with the reverse diamond dust lapping tool. You save the fitting, save the day and save the race.”

Look for the latest tool in six to eight months.

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About the author

Trevor Anderson

Trevor Anderson comes from an eclectic background of technical and creative disciplines. His first racing love can be found in the deserts of Baja California. In 2012 he won the SCORE Baja 1000 driving solo from Ensenada to La Paz in an aircooled VW. Trevor is engaged with hands-on skill sets such as fabrication and engine building, but also the theoretical discussion of design and technology. Trevor has a private pilot's license and is pursuing an MFA in fine art - specifically researching the aesthetics of machines, high performance materials and their social importance to enthusiast culture.
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