I'm looking for suggestions on tools and techniques to bend the stock dipstick tube to clear a CSL airbox (mine is Karbonius). My goal is to have it come up behind the strut brace. I bought a conduit bender but that doesnt have a tight enough radius. I've tried all manner of fixturing it in a vise and bending around something round, but it's not working well. I'm considering buying a plumbing tubing bender like this https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-1...826741#overlay. I'm a bit worried that it wont fit/work since the tube is not just bent in one plane. Before i go any farther and kink this thing horribly i want to know what has worked for you.
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I rotated it to the right position, then used brute force to bend it. Could probably use a heat gun or a torch to aid in that. -
No bending is required to clear Karb box + place it behind the braces securely.
Around 13 minutes mark.Comment
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Literally just rotate the dipstick tube counter clockwise toward the shock tower and zip tie it to the wire harness box right next to the driver shock tower area.
No need to bend anything.Comment
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Routing it behind the harness as shown in the vid was helpful and gets me close. It must be easier in manual trans cars. My car is SMG and the the tube is touching the pump a little and is pinching some wires on the side of the SMG pump so i still have to do a little tweaking. I think i'm very close now though.Comment
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My problem with the video solution is like he said, the Dipstick is touching in two places. That's with ZERO load on the engine. As the motor moves the Dipstick isn't going to want to. He could wear a hole in his heater core hose or leak oil from the Dipstick o ring.
Just finished my install yesterday and my buddy had this and it worked fantastically. We straightened some areas and put bends in others. The beautiful part was I could route it where I wanted and that made me able to put a small bracket and 1/2" pipe clamp about half way up the tube so it's supported like it was before install. I do understand the ease of install on just spinning it thoughComment
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The zip tie to the harness does the job, although not the most elegant solution. The best solution would be to rotate it towards the harness and drill a small hole in the unfiltered section. Then use the stock rubber grommet with a nylon lock nut to secure it to the unfiltered section. This way, the dipstick can move with the engine. Routing the dipstick under the harness will put stress on the dipstick and the harness. It probably won't cause a problem short term, but damaging the harness, dipstick or oil pan would suck. If only Karb put a rivet nut in the unfiltered section to mount it similar to stock, it might not put everyone off on modifying the pretty CF.Last edited by Slideways; 03-20-2023, 08:46 AM.Comment
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Thanks for the suggestion! I'll give that tool a try.Originally posted by Wernd View PostMy problem with the video solution is like he said, the Dipstick is touching in two places. That's with ZERO load on the engine. As the motor moves the Dipstick isn't going to want to. He could wear a hole in his heater core hose or leak oil from the Dipstick o ring.
Just finished my install yesterday and my buddy had this and it worked fantastically. We straightened some areas and put bends in others. The beautiful part was I could route it where I wanted and that made me able to put a small bracket and 1/2" pipe clamp about half way up the tube so it's supported like it was before install. I do understand the ease of install on just spinning it thoughComment
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Had some paint on my Dipstick flake off as I was bending it, the metal appeared to be copper. So it's soft but just don't go too far on any one bend as you'll see the tube start to shrink in girth. Also two people will help clock the tube for angle of bendComment
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