Braided Fuel Line recommendation?

BBShark said:
Yeah the Ridgid tool is a bargain. I used a tubing bender with long offset arms that worked easy with the SS tube. Don't know what brand but it has a sticker that says "Blue Dot" on it. I also made a bending jig for a tight U bend I had to make on the intake. The SS tube is annealed and bends pretty easily once.

All mine are single flares. The tubing is seamless, I bought it from McMaster-Carr.

I did use a short teflon lined Aeroquip hose from the intake to the frame since the engine moves (in relation to the frame).
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'll try to find that flare tool this weekend. I also found a ridgid tubing bender (Catalog #36097, Model #406) I think I'll give a try if it isn't too much.

I looked on Mcmaster and it seems I can't buy SS tubing in 20' lengths. The 50' was the closest and really expensive. Is this what you bought?

Also, did you use flare nuts like these?

I would also run teflon hose from the frame to the engine. Also, from the frame to the tank. It might save me money over doing a full length teflon hose too :D
 
TT, that was the exact one I was looking at. I just don't know if it's seamless and if I'll use the [summit] recommended inverted flare nuts.

Is there a place I can read up on any of this stuff? I don't like to burden you guys with such simple questions.
 
I attempted to flare SS tubing with the $40 tool from Summit - unsuccessful. With a good flaring tool SS tubing is not all that bad to work with, bending isn't as hard as I initially thought, a $20 HomeDepot bender gets the job done.

Having said that... I ran braided hose from the tank all the way to the pump and from the pump up to the carb. I used Summit brand hose and fittings, it's been about three years, no leaks no issues....
 
greg75vette said:
BBShark said:
Yeah the Ridgid tool is a bargain. I used a tubing bender with long offset arms that worked easy with the SS tube. Don't know what brand but it has a sticker that says "Blue Dot" on it. I also made a bending jig for a tight U bend I had to make on the intake. The SS tube is annealed and bends pretty easily once.

All mine are single flares. The tubing is seamless, I bought it from McMaster-Carr.

I did use a short teflon lined Aeroquip hose from the intake to the frame since the engine moves (in relation to the frame).
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'll try to find that flare tool this weekend. I also found a ridgid tubing bender (Catalog #36097, Model #406) I think I'll give a try if it isn't too much.

I looked on Mcmaster and it seems I can't buy SS tubing in 20' lengths. The 50' was the closest and really expensive. Is this what you bought?

Also, did you use flare nuts like these?

I would also run teflon hose from the frame to the engine. Also, from the frame to the tank. It might save me money over doing a full length teflon hose too :D
Click to expand...

Make sure you get the 37 degree flare tool. Ridgid makes one that looks just like it but is a 45 degree. Also, get a bender with long arms so that you have some leverage when bending.

I used two 6ft pieces of SS tubing with a filter in between. The tubing I used is Mcmaster PN 89895K62 (304 Annealed, 3/8 OD x .028 wall, seamless).

The fittings I used were all 6-AN fittings. I got some at a local speed shop and some at Summit.
 
Oh alright. That explains it. I planned on having the hard line a single piece and the filter right before entering the hard line. However, that isn't a bad idea with what you did.

I think I'll have to talk to my local speed shop because I can't seem to find fittings that work directly with hard line SS tubing. The ones I found on summit all crimp onto Al tubing.

I'm starting to think I'll just run hose the whole length for simplicity reasons. I'm starting to lose it :banghead:
 
MYBAD79 said:
I attempted to flare SS tubing with the $40 tool from Summit - unsuccessful. With a good flaring tool SS tubing is not all that bad to work with, bending isn't as hard as I initially thought, a $20 HomeDepot bender gets the job done.

Having said that... I ran braided hose from the tank all the way to the pump and from the pump up to the carb. I used Summit brand hose and fittings, it's been about three years, no leaks no issues....
Click to expand...

That was my original idea until I found out that my fuel could ruin rubber hoses (10% ethanol). In fact, I replaced the "S" hose that runs from the frame to my fuel pump on my L48 and within a year it was leaking fuel, BAD. A bunch of my other hoses have also hardened considerably that I replaced at the same time.

That is why I want to run Teflon hoses.

With that said, do you have similar issues and does Florida have similar fuel?
 
For hard line you have to use a flare nut, there is no fitting for hard lines. The flare nut adapts the tubing to AN (3/8" tubing to 6AN). On the pic below you can see tubing and flare nuts between the gauge and the regulator.

214980f3ff0582a.jpg

.
 
greg75vette said:
That was my original idea until I found out that my fuel could ruin rubber hoses (10% ethanol). In fact, I replaced the "S" hose that runs from the frame to my fuel pump on my L48 and within a year it was leaking fuel, BAD. A bunch of my other hoses have also hardened considerably that I replaced at the same time.

That is why I want to run Teflon hoses.

With that said, do you have similar issues and does Florida have similar fuel?
Click to expand...

Up to 10% Ethanol in the fuel here but so far no problems.... I'm using the Summit brand hose, 20' for $80.
Doesn't say anything about Ethanol:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-230620/Application/?prefilter=0
 
actually there is a fitting for hard lines, it has a brass ferrule and is rated to about 50 psi but that's on a brand new steel line, not old rusted/pitted stuff and I wouldn't use them on any injection apart from low pressure TBI applications. Thery're fine for tranny oil cooler lines and such.

Swagelok sells stainless hard line adapters that are rated for much higher pressures but they are expensive.
 
MYBAD79 said:
For hard line you have to use a flare nut, there is no fitting for hard lines. The flare nut adapts the tubing to AN (3/8" tubing to 6AN). On the pic below you can see tubing and flare nuts between the gauge and the regulator.

214980f3ff0582a.jpg

.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the picture! I figured I had to use a flare nut to an adapter for -6AN. I'm still searching for that adapter though. What adapter did you use? What I have been looking for is a female to the flare side to AN fitting on the other.

MYBAD79 said:
greg75vette said:
That was my original idea until I found out that my fuel could ruin rubber hoses (10% ethanol). In fact, I replaced the "S" hose that runs from the frame to my fuel pump on my L48 and within a year it was leaking fuel, BAD. A bunch of my other hoses have also hardened considerably that I replaced at the same time.

That is why I want to run Teflon hoses.

With that said, do you have similar issues and does Florida have similar fuel?
Click to expand...

Up to 10% Ethanol in the fuel here but so far no problems.... I'm using the Summit brand hose, 20' for $80.
Doesn't say anything about Ethanol:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-230620/Application/?prefilter=0
Click to expand...

That was the hose I looked at originally. Since it doesn't say it's compatible with alcohol, I'm reluctant to use it.

Twin_Turbo said:
actually there is a fitting for hard lines, it has a brass ferrule and is rated to about 50 psi but that's on a brand new steel line, not old rusted/pitted stuff and I wouldn't use them on any injection apart from low pressure TBI applications. Thery're fine for tranny oil cooler lines and such.

Swagelok sells stainless hard line adapters that are rated for much higher pressures but they are expensive.
Click to expand...

Agreed on the fittings. Summit carries some for Al tubing, but none for SS tubing and I don't think the pressure rating is all that high.
Swagelok is the exact company I've been looking at on and off for the past few hours. Their site is slow as balls, so I haven't had luck just yet. However, if I had my choice, I would like a flare nut to AN fitting adapter.

Also, I'm not using my original fuel lines. I'll be cutting them out. I will be using new hard line, just to clarify if there was any confusion.


One of these days, I'll find what I need...
 
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Ok. I think I just found a breakthrough! I became desperate and checked out summit's help. I found their tech articles and came across this article : No More Leaks: Plumbing Installation Tips from Earl’s Performance

Apparently, they use tube sleeves and tube nuts to adapt the hardline. Is this what I am supposed to use? I asked about them earlier in the thread and the question when unanswered. I hope it is!
 
Sleeve and tubing nuts is the way to go for the flared tubing end. The flare (37 degrees) mates to the fitting and tightening the nut provides the clamping force that it takes to seal.... I found a pic of one of these compression fittings - I wanted to use it on my stock fuel pump but I did not really like the idea on a fuel line and decided on a aftermarket pump with NPT threads that I adapted to -6AN.

21498edaaa9450f.jpg

On Summits website you can see photos of the tube nuts and the sleeves. the sleeve goes inside the nut (you need one of each per tubing flare)

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-220633-2/
 
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YES! That is fantastic news! I finally understand what's going on, haha.

Mybad,
is this what you mean?
hft-07.jpg


That's from there how-to article. What a sigh of relief!

Thanks for the help guys. I think I can plan out my system now. Until the next snag, that is.

Thanks again!
 
You can also use Swagelok type fittings. No flare required, just cut the tube to length. Good at 1500 psi. Reliable and reusable. As TT mentioned they can be expensive. I'll post some pictures as soon as i come to grips with Windows 7
 
The swagelok fittings look like what we use on test equipement for air heater traverses. That alone gave me hope that I would find something. If you don't mind me asking, do know how much those fittings cost you?
 
We used swagelok brand in most of our lab set ups and on all our nuclear equipment. It's very reliable. The advantage of Swagelok is ease of fabrication (you just cut tube to length and assemble fitting with hand wrench). Down side is cost of the fitting. I was lucky and got an assortment of 316 St Stl surplus fittings cheap. You can find the exact fitting you want and the local distributor on line at swagelok. My guess is about $25 for a 3/8 tube by -6 adaptor in Stainless. The system is basically bulletproof. My fitting and teflon hose fuel assy shown in the photos has been in place about 30 years, on and off countless times and never gives a bit of trouble.
 
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