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 The Origin of High Performance Plumbing
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The Origin of High Performance Plumbing
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| The hose and fittings that are commonly used in performance automotive applications originally were developed for the aerospace industry. The connections used between a hose end and and adapter fitting are now generically called "AN" connections. The AN standard (AN stands for Army/Navy) was originally developed by the government and was universally utilized on all military applications to provide a broad range of interchangeability. | |
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When this system was first
established it was based on metal tubing sizes. The AN standard assigned a dash
number to each different size metal tubing that was used in connection with the
fittings. These same numbers were also assigned to the hose and the respective hose
ends and fittings that interface with each hose size. The numbers given earlier for
hose sizes offered by Russell are the AN dash numbers assigned to these hoses. You
are probably accustomed to thinking in terms of a 3/8" fuel hose or a 1/2"
heater hose. Following is a chart that provides AN hose size numbers and their
nominal equivalent size in inches. The reason we say "nominal" size is
because this dimension refers to the tubing size. The hose size is actually slightly smaller. To ensure a snug fit, when a hose is specified as a 3/8" hose, that dimension is normally the inside diameter of the hose. Conversely, when you specify the size of metal tubing such as that used for gas lines or brake lines, or the tubing sizes that AN standard was originally designed around, the diameter given is the outside diameter of the tubing. Typically, a 3/8" hose is intended to slide over a 3/8" tube. To ensure a tight fit the inside diameter of a 3/8" hose is generally slightly smaller than the outside diameter of a 3/8" tube. |
| AN Dash Size | Nominal Equivalent | Hose I.D. |
| 3 | 3/16" | 1/8" |
| 4 | 1/4" | 7/32" |
| 6 | 3/8" | 11/32" |
| 8 | 1/2" | 7/16" |
| 10 | 5/8" | 9/16" |
| 12 | 3/4" | 11/16" |
| 16 | 1" | 7/8" |
An easy way to mentally convert an AN dash size to the nominal fractional equivalent is to remember that the dash number is the numerator of a fraction with a denominator of 16. For example a dash 10 is 10/16ths or 5/8" while a dash 16 is 16/16ths or 1" and so on.
In the early days of hot rodding many enthusiasts bought surplus fittings and used them to plumb their race cars as well as street machines. There was a substantial number of surplus AN fittings and hose ends available during the fifties and sixties.
Russell Performance Products was born in 1972 and was the first company to recognize that a much broader market existed for high quality performance plumbing products. By bringing the easily installed flare design reusable hose end to the market and by offering a wide range of related products on highly marketable skin packed cards sold through performance outlets, Russell Performance Products expanded the market for performance plumbing to a whole new range of customers.
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