Technical Ref: the red/see through fuel line...need to know

The purpose of a lot of this is to educate you and help you learn from the experience and misfortune of other guys who have gone before you.

Is it intelligent to just blow off anyone who tries to help you and just go ahead your own way building something with unsafe fuel lines ?

Makes me wonder what else you might do because you want to despite knowing that it’s not the best or even safe way to go.

 

Red fuel line the same color as firetrucks and fire extinguishers. Do you see a pattern?
KK

 

I can understand that, but what y'all don't know is that I first started using the red line back in 2005, when I put 2 deuces on the car. I have never had a problems with them. No splitting, no leakage and I didn't change them every year either. So, while I can read of terrible experiences with it and feel bad for those it happened to, MY experience has been different. Does that make me in-intelligent? I don't think so. Perhaps I have just been blessed?

My dad bought this car in 1958 and since 1973, I have been the one that did all the work on it. Safety and reliability were the most important goals. How many of you guys have put seat belts in your car? All of us intelligent guys did.
Point being- no need to 'wonder'.

 

I resemble that remark.
Blessed and intelligent are not synonyms.

 

I never understood why the red hose. I guess it's the bling bling thing. I would never use it. Plumb it correctly and drive. There's a fitting for every possible carb/line/pump today that are superior.

 

So, why not err on the side of caution ? Even if you have never had a problem, you could liken it to a guy who races the train across the tracks on a weekly basis, it goes well for a very long time until it doesn't.

Why not plumb the fuel lines properly and if you are dead set on the look of the plastic lines find a way to sheath the lines in the plastic tubing.

 

It's a helpless feeling standing on the side of the road and watching a car burn because of a gas line that looks cool but is dangerous to use,I watched a friends flathead powered T burn to the ground back in the late 60's and no we didn't have enough sense to have a fire extinguisher we were teenagers with more balls than brains. HRP

 

I'm with you Danny, try as we might we can't seem to get through to the OP.
He got upset, but I'm still standing by my reference to the stubborn donkey.
Larry.

 

I too am stand by my reference although it’s not stubborn donkey.
Dumb ass best describes my assessment.

Quote
. There's nothing more stubborn than a fact. That is why you hate them so much. They offend you.

 

Time for a thread theme song.

Red, red line
Goes to my carbs
Makes me ignore that I'm
Risking it so

Red, fuel line
You look so cool
All I can do, I've done
No fires so far
No fires so far

I'd have sworn
By this time
Use of you
Would leave my head
I was wrong
Now I find
Just a prayer from me instead

Red, red line
Don't leak on me
Don't burn my car down
Been lucky so far
My cool, cool car

 

If I,as in me,had to have red colored fuel line on my car I would use a approved line and cover it with some sort of red plastic hose.

I would say the OP is free to use what he want's,he has had positive results in the past and feels confident he won't have a problem in the future,and honestly I hope he is right,it would be a crying shame he's dads car purchased in 1958 when up in flames.

I hate to see anyone lose a car due to a engine fire,they can happen to anyone. HRP

 

Billy,I was unaware that you were a bard of epic verse. HRP

 

"Barf" would be closer. @DDDenny tells me "keep your day job"

 

Don't you have something to polish?

 

no comment

 

Don't you have a roadster to finish? we ALL have our short comings. HRP

 

It wasn’t the obscene language. It wasn’t the insults or being called a Dumb a$$. It wasn’t even the stories of flames.

It was HotRodPrimer’s post.

I have always taken safety in high regard…and I still do. So, I have changed my plan. I’m going with rubber fuel line that has a braided steel covering. I think I can make that look ‘cool’ AND decrease the odds (no matter how remote) of having a fire in the engine bay.

I plan to keep this car street-worthy until I go to heaven, so a little change every now and then could be a good thing.

Thanks guys.

 

Can you slip the red hose over some still line? You still get the color you want but with the safety of the steel line.

 

Well, I’m just glad that in the end you actually get the message and see the light.

What Danny (HRP) told you was the same thing all of us were trying to relate to you in different ways.

Obviously some methods are more successful depending on who or what kind of person you’re dealing with.

Good to see you going with a better plan.

Post pictures when you get there.

 

My first shop class project was a fuel block which I still have(1958) and we used steel lines with it as we had saw some bad deals with the pretty lines with Blue Sonoco gas in them.

 

This has been pretty informative. I had zero idea that red fuel line was dangerous and I may have used it myself. I usually use copper because it looks so good, but my equipment at work is plumbed with miles of plastic line that last for years under abuse, so I wouldn't have thought twice about it.

Sent from my LGLS992 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

With all due respect, the other thing you have no idea about is how dangerous it is to use copper for fuel lines. Do a HAMB search here and find out how copper hardens and cracks. Oh, and intelligent and smart are not always the same thing. And the HAMB isn't always Miss Manners' School of Politeness.

 

Yeah. I've read those threads. Not a ton of technical accuracy in them.
I run flammable and toxic high pressure gas through copper under more heat cycles, more vibration, and more shock on my machines than any car will ever produce.
The right copper, the right bracing, it's good.

Sent from my LGLS992 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day!We don’t normally jump into attack mode here. But it was looking as though you weren’t taken this seriously.
Believe me, I and everyone here care about you and your car. We will do whatever it takes to make you understand how important this is.

 

I started a thread on this red fuel line about a month ago, everyone said the same thing, don't use it.
The thing that surprises me is, how can they sell this stuff? and sell it for fuel line. Don't get me wrong I not one that wants the government to save me or thinks we need more law suits but you would think that stuff sold for automotive fuel line would meet some type or standard.

Sorry rant over.

 

OK, then. There's not a lot of "technical" data on the safety of red plastic fuel line, either. Your car,your risk. Best of luck.

 

That's true. I would've assumed that if it was sold by a reputable source it would be fine.
I've seen it and I think it looks neat, but never would have imagined that it would be available if it's that bad.
As for copper, any stories about it cracking are from someone who did not install it correctly.
OEM parts will also fail if not installed correctly.

Sent from my LGLS992 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

It's been sold for years and certain guys seem to think it is the hot old school lick while others think it is just as lame as it was 50 something years ago when we pointed and laughed at it then. Most of us older guys know someone who had a car fire because of it or of a car that burned because of it. That is why the caution statements. It's like the clear red spark plug wires that some guys put on back then and you see some guys trying to use now. We used to get a good laugh at the expense of the guys who ran them in the 60's when they opened their hood with the engine running at night and it looked like a batch of twinkle lights under the hood and they couldn't understand why their car ran rough and what performance it had had gone to hell.
If you feel you just have to run it I'd say buy a big roll, check it often and change it when it shows any sign of getting stiff. Plus put it on the rig in a manner that hopefully won't create an issue. I saw this flathead on the net yesterday and the red lines with the fuel block mounted on the firewall looks like it will create a weak spot right where the hose meets the barb. With the normal engine movement that spot (s) will be slightly flexing every time the engine runs and once the tubes stiffen up a bit they will be real prone to cracking. I don't know if the car belongs to someone on here it is just showing what I think is a weak point and possible spot for failure.

 

Oh, I'm not going to use it, I got the same responses that the OP got here, well not quite so harsh but the warning about it not being safe. My only point here was, I wonder how they can sell a product that is not safe.

 

Well, there is probably not a government standard for aftermarket fuel line. Much as I don't care for government oversight, sometimes, like in safety matters, no one else is going to look out for you. And that fuel line is perfectly safe, but how long it is perfectly safe for is the issue and any lawsuit directed at whoever the manufacturer was will be defended by pointing fingers at the installation, not the material.