Hydraulic Hose Crimper Kit - Manual A/C Hose Crimper for Air Conditioning Repair

I had no previous experience crimping fittings to a/c hoses. I installed a Vintage Air system in my 1971 Chevelle. In the Vintage Air SureFit kit there are three hoses that you have to cut to length and install the fittings. Each of the hoses is a different size #6, #8, #10. Each hose already has one fitting crimped on one end. You are supposed to install the evaporator, compressor, drier, hard line, etc., attach the hoses to the condenser, install condenser under the dash,run the hoses through the firewall (through the passenger air vent) and cut your hoses to the proper length.Then you are supposed to slide the fittings on the end of the hoses to determine the correct position to connect to the compressor and evaporator. You mark the position of each of the fittings and then uninstall the hoses and bring the marked hoses and fittings to a shop to crimp the fittings in the correct position. It was a major job to get everything installed and removing the hoses would have been a major task. I wanted a crimper that would allow me to install the fittings without removing the hoses. The Hydra-Krimp 71500 worked perfectly.I was able to line up each fitting, mark it, and crimp it with no hose removal. I used three different size dies to crimp the 3 sizes of fittings/hoses. I put a little bit of mineral oil on the dies to allow them to freely move on the fitting as the metal is being compressed. When I took my car in to have the system vacuumed and charged with R143a, the technician asked where I got my hoses crimped. I told him I did it myself. He said they looked great and appeared professionally made. The system got a 2 hour vacuum and a full charge with R134a with no leaks. I am happy.I was concerned at first that the kit did not specifically have a die for #6 hose but it turns out the #8 SRB die is the same as the #6. I was able to crimp all three sizes #6, #8, and #10. The Hydra-Krimp 71500 kit comes with a nice hose cutter that worked great. It also comes with a hydraulic seal ring rebuild kit for the crimper. It was not hard to use and not too hard to pump up and get a good crimp. The hardest part was keeping the fitting aligned on the hose and in the crimper as you start crimping. The set comes in a nice sturdy case. It seems to be very good quality for the price. It appears to be the same quality as units costing twice as much. I am very happy with the purchase and the performance. I included a picture of the two crimped fittings installed on the compressor.