Fabricating fuel lines.........

CTVETTE78

CTVETTE78

Garage Junkie
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
129
Location
NW Connecticut
.............or not.

It's time to install the fuel lined on my new frame now that things are finally starting to go together. I'm trying to decide whether to buy a couple of coils of stainless tubing and bend them up myself or if I should just pop for pre-made lines from one of the catalog suppliers.

It looks like the pre-made lines are about 120 bucks for both the feed line and the return......and I'm thinking that i should be able to get the material for about half that. Anybody have any experience with this? I'm not concerned about being able to bend the tubing - I have the tools and the lines are still on my old frame to use as a pattern. Are there any pitfalls about making these myself that I should be aware of? Also, is there a particular grade of tubing that I should be looking for? Suggested suppliers?
 
Get In Touch With Lars

Look up Lars on this site and find his email. He'll send you his paper on making fuel lines. I used it a while back to fab up a new hard line from the pump to the carb using brake lines.

The previous owner of my '73 made new fuel lines similarly using brake lines from the parts store. It turned out well. The only issue I'll have with his work is that he used a fitting to join two lines half way between the tank and the pump. I'll have to make sure that fitting can handle the pressure when I jump to EFI.

Good luck,

DC
 
DC3 said:
Look up Lars on this site and find his email. He'll send you his paper on making fuel lines. I used it a while back to fab up a new hard line from the pump to the carb using brake lines.

The previous owner of my '73 made new fuel lines similarly using brake lines from the parts store. It turned out well. The only issue I'll have with his work is that he used a fitting to join two lines half way between the tank and the pump. I'll have to make sure that fitting can handle the pressure when I jump to EFI.

Good luck,

DC
Click to expand...

3/8 fuel line is what 60-90 psi for a typical car engine, at MOST??

and here I have a 3/8 compression union from plumbing dept. local store that is in the power steering pump pressure/supply line as a adaptor for some 15 years now....~1000 psi, and been through the mods of the rack conversion and later the Hydroboost brake conversion some years later....still truckin'...

:clap::clap:
 
CTVETTE78 said:
.............or not.

I
It looks like the pre-made lines are about 120 bucks for both the feed line and the return......and I'm thinking that i should be able to get the material for about half that. Anybody have any experience with this? I'm not concerned about being able to bend the tubing - I have the tools and the lines are still on my old frame to use as a pattern. Are there any pitfalls about making these myself that I should be aware of? Also, is there a particular grade of tubing that I should be looking for? Suggested suppliers?
Click to expand...

I ordered SS lines from In-Line Tube. I had them install an AN fittings on the 3/8 inch gas line. Didn't want to use the standard rubber tube slip on and band clamp system since I may want to go high pressure.

In Line is very accomodating. My gas line order was a special order, but it was no problem. I also had them make custom lines for my Stainless Steel Brake Corporation rear aluminum calipers since the stock line is not a good fit. No problem and inexpensive.

In-Line sells professional tool bending equipment also. If you have a special tube problem, they invite you to make the tube in copper, send it to them, they'll scan it, and duplicate it in stainless steel.

For my tubes from gas tank to electric fuel pump to fuel filter (Aeromotive) and back to the stock gas line, made them myself. I used CoNiFer alloy tubing. Its a copper nickel iron alloy. It's a little softer than steel tubes, so double flares are easy. Also, being copper and nickel, it's rust resistant. It's used in some late model European cars, Volvo for one. For pump/filter/shutoff valve plumbing or for carb plumbing, I think it's ideal.
I did a Google search and found someone in Maine who is a US distributor.
It's a little expensive. I probably have, say, 5 feet of the stuff in my 68. However, I ended up buying about 20 feet of the stuff. Everytime one of my tubes wasn't right, I threw it away and started again. I had a lot of rejects as a first time tube bender
 
68/70Vette said:
I ordered SS lines from In-Line Tube. I had them install an AN fittings on the 3/8 inch gas line. Didn't want to use the standard rubber tube slip on and band clamp system since I may want to go high pressure.

In Line is very accomodating. My gas line order was a special order, but it was no problem. I also had them make custom lines for my Stainless Steel Brake Corporation rear aluminum calipers since the stock line is not a good fit. No problem and inexpensive.
Click to expand...

Wow. In Line Tube is a great lead. Certainly less expensive that the Corvette only suppliers. I'm starting to think it's not worth farting around with these myself. I'll give those guys a call tomorrow.

Thanks 68/70Vette.
 
Well, I ended up ordering the lines from Classic Tube. All other things being equal, they had the best price and since they are a bit closer to me than In-Line Tube, the shipping cost was lower as well. I ordered up the complete set in stainless steel.- I guess I'm getting lazy in my old age.

A word of caution if anyone is going to order from them on-line. Don't believe what the web site quotes for shipping charges. The web site was going to add over a hundred bucks for shipping! :eek: I called and ordered by phone and the real cost was more like $35. Still seems like a lot, but since these lines are the full length of the car, this will be a large package. keywestjack - how did they ship yours? Did they bend them in half the way the brake lines come?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top