Fuel line?
I needed a complete, new, half-inch fuel system for my A-Body.
I am pathetically inept at configuring metal hose... just have NO talent nor patience for doing it. No joke (it's not EVEN funny...)
My car is a '72 Valiant 4-door sedan street/strip car that needs half-inch fuel line, and a 30+-pound pump because of using a boost-referenced fuel-pressure regulator, and the inertia "weight" of the fuel in a half-inch line, during a 1.50, 60-foot time, launch. Like, my car has ever been capable of that... but, I an hope, can't I????
So, when I installed what is actually, two, "half-inch fuel systems" for my supercharged (10-pound, boosted) 360 Magnum, I looked for non-metallic, alternatives, which led me to a nearby professsional chassis-building facility (dirt-track, roundy-round cars,) a place that apparently has a really good reputation for constructing a variety of chassis types for circle track racing.
Their reputation is very, very good....
The fuel-system tech at that place (GRT Race Cars,) listened to me describe my car and its intended usage, and recommended that I build this system from what he called "Push-On" hose and fitting technology, using a silicone hose that employes NO hose clamps when pushed onto the proper, barbed, fittings.
I asked him about how wise that was, in case of an accident, and he said two things that made up my mind for me: 1 He said that he'd witnessed race cars whose fuel cells had fallen OUT OF THE VEHICLE, and were being dragged around the race course (driver unaware) and they eventually would pull the hose in two, before the hose would come off the fitting... with no clamp. 2. That the type of dirt track racing that they build for, is the most punishing, physically-demanding environment, anywhere, for fuel system plumbing, and that they haven't used anything but this "silicone hose/push-on fitting system" technology for years... because it works.
So, I thought I'd try it. I don't race my car at any strips tht have very stringent tech rules, much less at an NHRA strip, so, I haven't had to deal with a tech crew that thinks this system is unsafe.
My system consists of the original tank (for pump gas), and an 8-gallon trunk-mounted fuel cell, which contains Av-Gas for drag strip use (read: "high-octane for BOOST.") A high-volume, high-delivery pressure pump is mounted in the trunk, while, a Holley Blue Pump is mounted down alongside the rear spring's housing-mounting plate, for daily-driver, no boost driving... Tried a Holley Black, and it lasted about 45 minutes.... Go figure...:angry7:
Either pump can deliver from either tank, and all fuel goes through a filter before, and after the pump(s.) Just a couple of valves to turn, and two toggle switches to flip, to change systems, completely.
So far, I haven't had any leaks from these push-on hose fittings.
A word of advice; these fittings are A-N anodized aluminum, and aren't (in my opinion, but, I'm poor....) reasonably-priced. Neither is the hose; something like $3.00 per linear foot, if I remember correctly.
The upside is, I threw my tubing bender away...
Hope I'm not sorry, down the road...
I wouldn't necessarily recommend this "push-on" technology to anyone, but this has been my experience with it. If I could bend tubes and not flatten them, I might well have an aluminum system on my car....:cheers: