Stock nylon fuel lines or rubber fuel lines??

[Mad Maxine]

I'm pulling my tanks out and replacing a sending unit in one and doing a showerhead mod in both. I'm also either going to go with a 38 gallon rear tank and do away with the dual tanks, or replace the fuel control valve and put both tanks back in. I haven't decided yet.

While I have all this apart, I was wondering if it's better to go back with the stock nylon lines and connectors or to go to rubber lines with hose clamps. Do the nylon line connectors seal OK over time, or am I inviting an air leak by continuing to use them?

If I do go back with the nylon lines and connectors at the tank(s), I'll have to modify the other ends for the fuel selector valve since the replacements only have hose barbs and not the connector barbs. Any suggestions as to how to splice the nylon line with a rubber line?

Thanks much!

 

[IDIoit]

you must use the nylon repair barbs.
i have been running them for a year without issue.
they are designed for a leak free operation.
i prefer nylon over rubber, rubber lines will degrade and get brittle.
eventually letting air in the system.

i love my single tank. i have not had an issue since ive installed it.

when deleting the FSV, it produces a great spot for an electric fuel pump!

 

[Mad Maxine]

you must use the nylon repair barbs.

Where can I get those?

So, I guess the old connectors on the tanks still seal OK?

 

[Agnem]

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. As was mentioned, rubber lines will need to be replaced periodically. The steel or nylon ones last much longer. The downside to those, in my opinion, is the repair options available. Rubber and steel lines can be hard to find fittings for. As an example, the Moose Truck has all rubber lines on it, because I had issues at an IDI rally, and the only fix available was the rubber hose. The don't rust like steel lines, and so don't spring leaks like steel lines can and do. Probably the nylon is the best of both worlds, but they can be hard to work with when you have a problem.

 

[franklin2]

I just redid my truck. Everyone has problems with those switching valves, and I never did. But I kept waiting and waiting and sure enough, after having the truck for about 6 years now, it left me sitting on the side of the road. I switched the tanks before I left my driveway, but didn't realize it really didn't switch. So 3/4 of the way to work it stopped.

I kept going over my options, replace the valve and wait for it to fail again, put in a transfer pump system, etc. I finally realized I really do not need two tanks for what I do, I find myself alternating filling the front and the rear tanks just to keep everything going. But I really only need one tank. So I picked the front side mounted tank, and wired the fuel sending unit full time to that tank, and ran short pieces of hose to permanently connect the front tank to the lines going to the engine.

All I really did was cut the nylon lines at the valve, and bought a piece of 3/8 fuel line and a piece of 5/16 fuel line. Bought hose clamps and just slipped the rubber hose over the nylon line and tightened the hose clamp. Not too much, just enough to where it would not slip off the line when I pulled on it. You can put the nylon line several inches up into the rubber hose. It fits pretty good and never has leaked on me yet.

 

[Mad Maxine]

Yeah, that's what I've decided...I don't need two tanks. I was thinking I might get a 38-gallon tank for the rear, but I really don't need that, either. The saddle tank was a PITA to fill...spit up constantly when trying to fill...and I already pulled it to get to the lines and such. I'm gonna keep the saddle tank, skid plate, and all the hardware for posterity. I was going to go to the hardware store tomorrow and get me a 3/8 and 5/16 compression union to splice the lines. Need to find a schematic on the site showing which wires I need to splice to make the rear sending unit operable all the time. Not that it matters--that sending unit doesn't work anyway. But LMC has one for that tank, so that's the next to-do!

 

[nj_m715]

I'm running aluminum tube from aircraft spruce. MacMaster carr has some too.

 

[madpogue]

http://userpages.chorus.net/elephant/FuelTankSelector1985.pdf - 1985 should be about the same. Make a little jumper wire with two round male terminals, and connect it to terminals 4 and 5 of the FSV connector. That will feed the rear sending unit directly to the gauge, and will be reversible.

 

[DaytonaBill]

If I do go back with the nylon lines and connectors at the tank(s), I'll have to modify the other ends for the fuel selector valve since the replacements only have hose barbs and not the connector barbs. Any suggestions as to how to splice the nylon line with a rubber line?

Thanks much!

I believe Rock Auto has the FSV with the correct connector barbs. They do have two, one with 5 ports and the other with 6...

I think these are the ones you can use without changing the lines, seeing they have only one ring near the end whereas the ones for rubber hose would have multiple rings or barbs.

I'm interested in this conversation because I think my FSV might be clogged up from debris in the line. Sometimes the engine just dies out after running off the forward tank... takes a while, but it will die out in about three to five minutes, sometimes it will last ten minutes even. There's over a half tank in there, so...

I'm just waiting for someone on here to reveal how to disconnect those lines from the FSV so I can have all of my stuff together before I start. I don't like taking 35 dollar taxi rides just to get something overlooked from a possible visit from Uncle Murphy...

 

[IDIoit]

sorry i didnt catch this,
most auto stores carry them in the self help isle.
its a weird looking double barbed fitting.

 

[franklin2]

I'm just waiting for someone on here to reveal how to disconnect those lines from the FSV so I can have all of my stuff together before I start. I don't like taking 35 dollar taxi rides just to get something overlooked from a possible visit from Uncle Murphy...

If you look at the fittings you will see a piece of plastic shaped like a horseshoe. Some of mine were white, some were black(must be coded for the different sized lines). Take a little screwdriver and pry these horseshoe things out, and then just pull and twist the line off. The o-rings seal the line, the horseshoe just holds it on there beyond the single bump in the line.

The hardest part I found was getting the old valve off the frame. One of the bolts was rusted, ended up twisting it off to get it off.

 

[DaytonaBill]

Thanks, that's way too easy, know what I mean?

 

[DaytonaBill]

Just a thought, should the o-rings on these quick connectors, for the nylon fuel line, be replaced whenever they come off?

Injector return caps come to mind is why I'm asking...

 

[Mad Maxine]

I believe Rock Auto has the FSV with the correct connector barbs. They do have two, one with 5 ports and the other with 6...
I think these are the ones you can use without changing the lines, seeing they have only one ring near the end whereas the ones for rubber hose would have multiple rings or barbs.

Yours should look like this:

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All of the replacements I've seen look like this:

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It's true that the replacement has one ring, but it's just a hose barb. The rings on the original valves (and the ones that the quick-connects work with) are further back on the stem.

Also, notice the direction of the outlets. The replacement has four up and two down. I don't know about yours, but mine had two up, two down, and two that went straight out from the pump. There's no way my lines would reach, even if the unit had the correct quick-connect barbs on it. My upper and lower hoses have right-angle boots, and the lines coming straight in had straight boots. Which presents another problem---if I were to cut off the quick-connects off the nylon lines and splice in rubber line to fit the hose barbs, the hoses would've have to make such a sharp right angle that they'd kink. Anyway, just double check before you buy....

 

[madpogue]

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