Fuel lines - rubber or aluminium?

[sonus]

I am changing from carburetor to EFI in my TVR and need to redo the fuel lines. Having read many horror stories about rubber fuel lines disintegrating causing fires I wonder if aluminium or other metal fuel lines might be better for the run from the tank to the engine bay and back and then just stort runs of rubber fuel line from the fuel regulator to the fuel rail and from the tank to the fuel filter?

[ejenner]

If the fuel hose is fuel-safe it will never cause a problem.

In my old car which wasn't originally EFI but has been converted I've got hard copper lines for the majority of the pipework and it just terminates with rubber at either end.

Someone may know of the reason, but I've not seen any manufactured cars using rubber hoses all the way for a fuel line. There's nearly always something between like plastic or metal.

Also worth bearing in mind the diameter of the hose you choose has a bearing on how much fuel is delivered. I've got nice fat lines on my car, seems to work well.

[truckdoctor]

Aluminium or copper as long as it is well secured around every 300mm and try to eliminate masses of rubber tube. Definitely use Ethanol proof hose www.carbuilder.com/uk/fuel-hose-fuel-line#/pageSize=20&viewMode=grid&orderBy=0

I used 10m aluminium tube with bulkhead fittings and home made supports utilising existing holes in the chassis

[sowen]

I've been using teflon hose with stainless braiding instead of rubber and metal pipes on my projects for the last few years. No problems so far, but it is more expensive to start with since you need proper fittings either end. I like the look of the Aeroquip style AN6 hose fitings, and they're reusable too. Where a rubber hose is needed to fit to a push on connector I've bought the equivalent rubber braided hose and fittings.

I could be wrong but I'm sure I've read of corrosion issues within some of the metal pipes caused by the additives or ethanol content in modern petrol.

[froggy]

I use 3/8 cupro nickel tube with flared ends . I only put hose in as short as possible and only where it can be seen . Not a fan of over Braid stuff as it’s not easy to see any minor leaks as they develope

[pittaway]

i used kunifer 3/8 pipe along my chassis rails with short lengths of rubber onto fuel pump and engine, this was mainly due to the vibration either end causing weakness.

[nickwheeler]

Why not use the nylon tubing that's been OE for sixty years?
8mm diameter, 6mm bore is a standard size for fuel lines so many stock injection fittings are immediately usable(you warm the tube with a heat gun and push the fittings in) and it's available from your local hydraulic supplier in a range of colours for about £1 per metre. We've fed V8s with it and had no problems.

The important thing for any fuel line is to ensure that it's thoroughly secured to the car.

[ejenner]

I think the answer to that is that it's hard to be certain you've got a secure fitting! Last thing anybody wants to experiment with is fuel hose. Works well for OE but scary to use at home... bearing in mind the DIY guy hardly ever makes fuel lines.

[nickwheeler]

Jan 4, 2020 7:52:24 GMT ejenner said:

I think the answer to that is that it's hard to be certain you've got a secure fitting! Last thing anybody wants to experiment with is fuel hose. Works well for OE but scary to use at home... bearing in mind the DIY guy hardly ever makes fuel lines.

I was concerned about the first ones I made. Having bought 30metres of pipe, some practice was in order. Every fitting I made had to be cut off, then wiggled out of the remains of the pipe. Once I had moved on to a heat gun instead of boiling water as a heat source. A pressure rig shouldn't be too hard to make if you're really paranoid; fuel injection isn't paticularly high pressure.

[welshpug]

not hard at all to know uf its good, if it leaks its not!

hardline as much as possible on my build too, following the oe steel pipes in 8mm copper, to a compression fitting at the bulkhead and ptfe lines and an fittings throughout in the engine bay.

later variants of my car used plastic instead if steel, in that case i could have kept it all, not being rusted away!

the e34 i could order new steel from the dealer though!

[sonus]

Thanks all, my car currently has rubber fuel lines all the way zip tied to the tube frame. Not feeling overly confident in it as is. I’ll look into the Teflon lines a bit more. Was thinking of using AN fittings.

[andyborris]

look here , they also sell brass compression fittings to suit.