Fuel Lines leaking and possible replacenment

[spiderman1]

Well I just got the 1982 spider-new to me and I am making plans to do all the fluids and belts. Took her out for a couple miles today and smelled fuel. Opend the hood and the fuel line near where wiring goes through the firwall was leaking pretty badly. I have not seen this as a topic. Where do I get new fuel lines and are they hard to replace. I have not quite got the hang of following the threads on here.

[AriK]

The twin lines are standard 5/16 pressure and 1/4 for the return. They pass through the firewall through a rubber grommet, along the rockers next the drivers seat and through another grommet under the rear floor to the outside. Mine turn to rubber at his point for 6-8 inches or so and then back to metal as they lead along the frame and around the differential hump before they turn back to rubber as they enter the trunk area. Be sure to flare the ends so that the hoses dont slip off while under pressure. I finished safety-ing all my lines including 36 yr old vapor lines early this year.

[spiderman1]

Is there a step by step on this-Where do you purchase the lines. Should I replace the fuel filter while I am at it?

[spiderman1]

Can you explaing the taporing

[AriK]

Any auto parts store sells lengths of tubing of various sizes. The tapering is the flaring of the line as opposed to a flat edge so that your rubber fuel line doesn't let go and create a mess or worse disaster. The flaring tools can be found in any tool dept. You'll also need a tube bender in order to copy the line you replace.

The image shows an example of a brake line flare (silver line on top). Use a more forgiving flare so that you have an easier time sliding your fuel line on.

[klweimer]

Another option instead of trying to re-flare steel brake lines is to use adapters to go from the brake flare fitting to a standard hose barb style. I used Edelmann 824550 adapters on both ends of standard 5/16" brake lines. Edelmann 824450 adapters will work with 1/4" steel lines. Make sure you use high pressure fuel injection hose (should be marked as such) on any hoses from the fuel pump to the fuel rail itself.

[johnsje6]

My '79 carbureted car had rust in the gas tank. Fixed that problem but still getting sediment in the carb, so I am thinking my fuel lines are rusty too. Are the fuel lines in the carb cars the same size as the FI cars? By the way - I got a flaring tool set and tube bender from Harbor Freight for brake lines, they work pretty well and should work for fuel lines too.

[spiderman1]

where would I get the barbed fitting you described-where should they be ordered from?
The Edelmann 824550 adapter?

[spiderman1]

Although this is just a short term question-eventually I am replacing all the fuel lines, but My leak is a bad hoes connected to the" Fuel Rail"-At least that is what I think it is called. Do I take the rail off or can I replace the hose with it on the rail?

[KevAndAndi]

Posting a link for illustrative purposes:

http://www.midwest-bayless.com/p-8163-p ... t-124.aspx

That gives you an idea of what needs to be replaced once you get around to the full project. I wouldn't necessarily recommend buying this particular kit because part of the embedded cost is the convenience charge of cutting the hose into the correct sizes. You can actually do better by buying bulk hose from the same vendor - or another - and cutting it yourself.

It sounds like the hose that failed is the fuel inlet hose? That's the 230mm hose shown in the link.

You will notice that the vendor states that 5/16" (7.9mm) is too big. I found that to be true, but YMMV. I also agree with the vendor's statement that regular worm gear hose clamps are not a good idea. I do use worm gear clamps for certain applications, but I use ABA brand which is more "hose friendly" and usually will not damage the rubber. Regular clamps can be quite destructive if you're not careful.

You shouldn't have to remove the fuel rail to change a hose.

[klweimer]

I ordered my Edelmann fittings from Amazon, Edelmann is a common brand at auto parts stores. Edelmann also has a great catalog on-line with all their brass. You can replace the hose between the fuel rail and the feed line coming out of the firewall, it is a barbed fitting on both ends. You will probably have to cut the old hose off, as the metal collars will keep it on the barbs. I just did that same replacement and used 5/16" NAPA MPI fuel line. I wouldn't count on the old metal collars. Use clamps.

[lglade]

Like KevAndAndi, I replaced all of the fuel lines in the engine compartment on my 1984. They were looking pretty bad and the kit from Midwest Bayless that I used was great (the fuel line for the cold start valve should have been a wee bit longer, though). That said, it wasn't until I replaced the charcoal canister did I actually get rid of the fuel smell. You can find new canisters on eBay, and others on this site have written about servicing your existing canister with aquarium charcoal.

FWIW, I removed my fuel rail which let me reuse the metal collars instead of having to use hose clamps (kept the stock look). An X-acto knife made it easy to remove the old fuel lines and a few seconds with a heat gun made reinstallation very easy. If you do pull the rail, be sure to get new injector seals from one of the vendors, and hit the seals with a little lithium grease before you reinstall the injectors. Lastly, you need the right sized fuel hose or the collars won't work (e.g. take your time and go get the 7.5mm, not the 7.9mm fuel hose).

[bdinardo]

Reviving an older thread. I'm strongly considering buying the fuel hose kit from Midwest Bayless here, http://www.midwest-bayless.com/p-8163-p ... t-124.aspx and recognize that the hose is a bit thicker and will not fit under the metal collars. I'm fine with using the hose clamps that come with the kit. My question is after cutting off the old hose, how do I remove the metal collars on the injector side? Thanks!

[redcars]

Once you remove the hose the metal collars will fall off.

[bdinardo]

Confirmed that they just fall off, thank you! All hoses now replaced.