any tricks for positioning pipe thread fittings

[chevyart]

need to know if there are any ways tor make pipe threads stop where i waqnt thwm to and be tight. doing my tganny cooler and i positioned the 2 45 degree fittings(3/8 pipe thread and # 6 flair on end going to lines. they are all positioned spot on, only trouble is the pipe thread fittings need exactly another 360 degrees of rotation to get them back in line and be tight, but they wont rotate the full 360 degrees as it tightens up too soon. when i index spark plugs on my race engine i use different thickness copper washers on the plug and i find the right thickness to land the electrode right where i wqat it on top when the plug is tightened in. maybe extra white teflon tape.? any ideas will help. ps i just ruined a $160 tranny cooler and 2 russell fittings trying to get the fitting lined up and i went too far, but not far enough and the fittings and tranny cooler fittings got wasted. got to buy a new one and need a better way to do this (yes i can use 3 russell fittings on each site to get what i want,) but this will still change the positioning a bit. someone please save me from being stupid twice. thanks art

[KZVEGA]

Not sure if I entirely understand what you're trying to achieve. If it's just positioning the 45 the way you want it, I would just use swivel 45 AN fittings. Just hold on place and snug the fitting end and it will secure it tightly and not move.

[chevyart]

thanks kz. i mentioned in my post that that was a possibility, but it takes 3 fittings to make what you propose to happen. i was on phone with russell fittings company for a long time to find out the 3 dirrerent fittings to make it happen(fittings you mentioned dont incorporate pipe thread in their design.), and this method of using the 3 fittings adds aprox 2-3 inches to length of setup and there is really no room. any other ideas? thanks art for the extra length.

[KZVEGA]

Ah that's what you meant by three fittings. Not sure what the third would be. I used a 3/8 NPT to -6 reducer then in my case a -6 90°.

[spencerforhire]

If you use high quality teflon tape(usually pink or orange instead of the thin white stuff), it is actually thick enough to give you more rotation after it's tight enough to seal. Makes it clockable to a point, but you still can't turn it backwards. You should be able to find it at an industrial plumbing supply place.
http://www.oatey.com/products/thread-se ... -with-ptfe

[chevyart]

yep spence, the fittings dont come back out. thats how i ruined the threads on the cooler fittings. 1 gorilla to tighten in and 2 gorillas to get it back out and ruin the threads. learned that lesson well., kz: your setup is what i am going to do but my fittings will be slightly different. russell stuff requires 3 fittings to get me there(my lines a pre made with 6 an femele ends), but with Earls fittings, i just need only 2 fittings i should have figured this out when i first decided to use just the one fitting(that gave me no adjustability.) thanks guys for help . i will try the other teflon tapes that spence mentioned. i hate working with the white tape. cant seem to make it behave at all when getting it off the role and trying to wrap it around the threads, and big monkey hands dont help the situation. art

[spencerforhire]

The fancy teflon tape is 10x easier to use; it's actually 3 mil thick. You don't waste any like with the the flimsy white stuff. Good thing; the stuff is 10x the price of the white. Worth every penny.

[KZVEGA]

yep spence, the fittings dont come back out. thats how i ruined the threads on the cooler fittings. 1 gorilla to tighten in and 2 gorillas to get it back out and ruin the threads. learned that lesson well., kz: your setup is what i am going to do but my fittings will be slightly different. russell stuff requires 3 fittings to get me there(my lines a pre made with 6 an femele ends), but with Earls fittings, i just need only 2 fittings i should have figured this out when i first decided to use just the one fitting(that gave me no adjustability.) thanks guys for help . i will try the other teflon tapes that spence mentioned. i hate working with the white tape. cant seem to make it behave at all when getting it off the role and trying to wrap it around the threads, and big monkey hands dont help the situation. art

I see, never used Russel fittings before. Always earls or fragola. Good luck art, sure it will turn out right in the end.

[chevyart]

thanks guys. russell fittings are OK, but earls makes quality fittings and also has many more fittings to make the best possible connections. art

[Monza Harry]

Art the only way to re-index pipe threads is with a pipe die or tap. You will need to figure a way to get every last chip and that will invariably require removing that rad again. figure out how much further you will need to go [degrees of rotation] then turn your tap in this case about 1/2 of that and check, You can go until you feel it touch and figure on about no more than 1/4 to 1/2 [pushing your luck at 1/2] a turn from there and then fine tune your threading. This is a tapered thread and it isn't going to be one turn equals one turn. If indexing is critical you will tap and check many times but don't "Reef this" as that will end the service life of your fittings, this includes your Tranny cooler. Also use a premium thread sealer and allow it to cure as per the instructions. I like these and you should be able to find these locally: http://na.henkel-adhesives.com/industri ... 7713694721 or this one will seal small gaps: Think of this as it is tight but you would like "a bit more" sealer. I have been pretty lucky with this one on troubled fittings Art. If this all goes bad Art buy your cooler with inverted flare, or AN (dash) fittings much easier to win a fight against! Harry