[Healeys] Steel Fuel line (pipe) replacement suggestion

[tomleavy at comcast.net]

Hi Listers-


I originally planned on reusing my original long fuel line, until I kinked
upon reassembly and it cracked where it had rust weakness. Better off. The
problem created was replacing with a line that had original fittings and
original look. I decided to zinc plate copper pipe (the soft, bendable type).
I purchased 3/8 pipe, and was going to drill out the original fittings (5/16")
to accept the oversize copper. Ray Carbone was helping me twist up the new
line, and suggested that I see if the 5/16 pipe would fit into the 3/8 ID new
pipe. It Worked! I left about 1/2" of the old pipe on each fitting, and after
filing for proper fit, cleaning and fluxing, I shoved the pieces together.
Sweated them together, and the new pipe and old fittings are airtight.


To make the line pressure testable, I used the fitting off the old flex fuel
line from the front and capped it with a vacuum nippl e cap. For the rear end
of the hose, I used a small o-ring to seal between the line and a standardB 
B 1/4"B  air hose quickB  disconnectB  fitting. This created a system that
could be plugged into my air compressor (at 10 psi), an remain pressurized.
Once done, I checked both ends for leaks with soap, and it was airtight. It
was an inexpensive fix- less than the price of shipping for prebent lines, and
even though copper, the zinc finish looks correct.


Regards, Tom