trade name for this air fitting?

[ehall]

I'm trying to integrate an air compressor from a Cadillac into my XJ and am having a helluva time finding adapters for the air fitting. Here's a pic of what I'm dealing with

It's 1/8 nylon tube with a bubble flare on the end and dual o-rings providing an airtight seal. The entire end goes into the neck of the brass thing, and the cap has a spring clip that grabs onto the groove on the nipple and locks the end in place.

Here's a pic of the compressor. You can see the nylon tube coming out of the desiccant drier and the other end hanging free

McMaster-Carr, Fastenal, et al have an "instant" or "push to connect" fitting line for nylon tube but it's just the tube and doesn't have the bubble flare, o-rings, or nipples. Is this a GM-proprietary thing? What's it called?

I need to find adapters and parts or else I will have to convert it to the push-to-connect style. Another option would be to find a female connector for the nipple and latch onto the desiccant drier directly, but I don't see anything like that anywhere either. Any other ideas appreciated as well

Thanks

 

[GrimmJeeper]

Is that nipple a part of the drier, or can it be removed and replaced with something more replaceable? how about the drier itself, can that be removed and replaced with something that has standard NPT pipe thread fittings on the in and out sides?

also, is this an AC compressor, or the air suspension compressor?

 

[ehall]

The compressor is from the automatic leveling system--the system pumps up the air struts in the rear or vents the line pressure (exhaust solenoid) when commanded by a switch in the rear of the car.

The nipple in the picture is one side of a reducer, there is another nipple on the other end of it that is slightly smaller (the reducer is purposefully different on each end to prevent installing it backwards). The compressor can put out 180 PSI but the reducer prevents the pressure from going past 60 (safety cutoff for the struts). The drier has a plastic nipple that is the same as the small end of the reducer.

I might just put some heater hose on the drier nipple and call it done

 

[HilltopXJ]

I dont know what the name of the fitting is, but I made a couple of these for a friend a while back for his Caddy compressors. They worked pretty good till the compressors went tits up.

 

[RedHeep]

That looks like the way to go, get rid of that plastic whatever and plug it into the cylinder.

 

[ehall]

what's the recipe? got any left over?

 

[HilltopXJ]

I only made 2. Didn't make a drawing. I could see if he still has them since he's not using the compressors anymore.

 

[Boatwrench]

I only made 2. Didn't make a drawing. I could see if he still has them since he's not using the compressors anymore.

If this fails...check the actual shock. It's been 23 years since I've worked for GM, but I seem to recall the rear shocks having the same air line female ends and the male end attached to the shock may be screw into the shock tube. One of the two (L or R) had two fittings.

 

[kastein]

Wow, just when I thought I'd seen everything...

I'd replace it all. PS, will that dessicant dryer actually last any significant amount of time? I always thought you had to bake the dessicant periodically to force the water back out. Personally I would rip the dryer out and replace it with a sintered brass one for 25 bucks at Lowes/Home Depot, as a bonus they take care of particulates as well.

 

[ehall]

I bought a 5/16 push-connect adapter that spits out to 1/4 NPT. Seems to hang onto one of my scrap pieces pretty well, but I don't know yet if it will stay on with over 100 PSI (McMaster said it was rated for +200 so we'll see).

I think this is probably the best I will get and at $4 it's certainly reasonable.

Thanks for the info everybody

 

[Boatwrench]

That compressor puts out 100psi?

 

[ehall]

The cadillac FSM says it will put out 180 PSI before emergency venting through the exhaust port

 

[ehall]

oh and that is 5/32 not 5/16!

 

[kastein]

I don't doubt the compression ratio (which determines the max pressure) but I kinda wonder what flow rate it can produce at that pressure. If it's enough, that looks like a really nice junkyard find.

 

[Boatwrench]

TRNDRVR used one of these compressors, I don't know if he filled tires with it, I think he had an ARB.

 

[ehall]

All the talk of PSI so I picked up a pressure gauge from Lowes and it is showing slightly over 30ish. As a reference I checked the pump on my DeVille and it was the same. So either my fittings are loose, the gauge is bad, or these things are much weaker than I was led to believe by the FSM and other people.

 

[ehall]

Nothing left to lose so I drilled and tapped the outlet port in the compressor for 1/4 NPT so as to bypass the weird fittings altogether. With the gauge screwed into the opening directly I get 115-120 PSI on battery power. With plumbers tape, lower gauge wire and ignition power I should be getting 130 PSI :thumbup:

So nevermind about the fittings they suck

 

[kujito]

With plumbers tape, lower gauge wire and ignition power I should be getting 130 PSI :thumbup:

Surely there's a better way to mount the thing, no?

Plumber's Tape

 

[kastein]

You must be a plumber :roflmao:

I read "plumber's tape" as PTFE thread tape, since I'm not a plumber and I know about "plumber's dope" (thread sealer, not the green leafy stuff or the assistant)

 

[kujito]

Once upon a time, but more of a pipefitter than a plumber.

Teflon tape = anti-seize tape. Allows fitting to thread together better/further; doesn't actually 'seal' the threads.

Q: What's the difference between a plumber and a pipefitter?
A: Stand a plumber and a pipefitter in 55 gal. drums full of sewage and swing a shovel at their heads. The plumber will duck.