How to make tight bends in tube without kinking?

[davepl]

Today all my new hardline material should arrive... I need to do all new brake and fuel lines. The brakes are a mix of 1/4 and 3/16, and the fuel is 3/8.

I ordered stainless so it'll stay looking nice. But in looking at my originals there are a couple of places (like right where the hard line goes to rubber to connect to the fuel pump) where they've got a really tight bend. 3/8 line doubles around in a 180-degree turn with a radius of about 2 inches in one place.

I don't know if the factory used a mandrel, or how they got it that tight. Are there are tips or tricks anyone knows to make a tight bend like that without kinking the tubing?

I've seen tubing with a spring outer wrapper, and I could try to find the spring part and use it just during bending, but not sure if that'd help. I could in theory do it without those tight bends, but I'd like to keep it as close to original as possible.

If you're curious, none of the vendors nor inline tube or classic tube has them for big-block long-horn 3/4 tons, so I'm sort of on my own with this one.

Dave