Fuel Line Length

[tezza 0]

im going to be running my fuel lines through the car as apposed to underneath. i know they will be required to be bent around the cabin so any idea how many metres i will need. for both the feed and the return?

[welshpug 1,657]

depends where they are to be routed, where they enter and exit the cabin, the connection method etc.

 

best approach is to just get out there with a tape measure IMO sorry!

[tezza 0]

yeah will probably end up doing the tape measure method but sadly im working away from the car at the moment so wanted to order a few parts to get sorted when i get home.

 

routing wise its from standard fuel tank along exhaust tunnel to the engine bay which will be running carbs.

 

any idea on an approx?

[harryskid 193]

What material are you going to use i'e steel or copper.? On mine i used 8 mm copper which can be brought in 25m rolls . What you don't use you could sell on. If you have to have any joins use the proper compression fittings because if the car is used in competition that is the only type of joint they will accept in the cabin. Also protect it with ducting. I would expect you would use about 10 - 12m for the two lines. Hope this is of help to you.

Cheers Harryskid

[Cameron 16]

10-12m!? No way!

 

I think I used about 4-5m maximum to do mine, that's from fuel pump to fuel rail and back!

[Anthony 1,003]

I think I used about 4-5m maximum to do mine, that's from fuel pump to fuel rail and back!

Are you sure? There is no way that it is 2m from the pump to the fuel rail directly, let alone by the time you've twisted and turned around the various parts.

 

Very roughly off the top of my head, you're looking at about a meter from the pump to near the handbrake, about 1.5-2m from there to the bulkhead, and about 1.5m or so in the engine bay, depending on routing. That makes 4.0-4.5m one way, or 8-9m both ways. Bit of slack or routed differently, that's 10m+ as stated above.

 

As said though, you really need to measure it because the route you take will make a big difference.

[davidc 0]

What material are you going to use i'e steel or copper.? On mine i used 8 mm copper which can be brought in 25m rolls . What you don't use you could sell on. If you have to have any joins use the proper compression fittings because if the car is used in competition that is the only type of joint they will accept in the cabin. Also protect it with ducting. I would expect you would use about 10 - 12m for the two lines. Hope this is of help to you.

Cheers Harryskid

 

I thought the blue book said there had to be no joins in the cockpit ?

 

Are you allowed to use the Aeroquip type bulkhead fittings ?

 

Any advance on the lengths required ?

 

 

Cheers,

David

[SPGTi 2]

Instead of guessing, take a bit more time, buy a washing line and use this to mock up exactly where you want to run the pipes. This will give you a better idea of how much you need and where to route them. I wouldn,t bother with connectors just do single runs (grommet and silicon through the bulkhead). I have used hardline (aluminium with a black plastic coating) and copper. Both are cheap. Just use a hose pipe to cover them.

 

Steve

[Craigb 2]

I thought the blue book said there had to be no joins in the cockpit ?

 

Are you allowed to use the Aeroquip type bulkhead fittings ?

 

Any advance on the lengths required ?

 

 

Cheers,

David

 

It states screwed joints or manufacturer approved joints now .

 

I suppose you could argue that i jubillee clip is a screwed joint , but i wouldn't want one inside my cockpit.

 

It used to say no interior joints and specified bulkhead fittings.

 

so the bulkheads are allowed .

 

As Steve has said the hardline is acceptable

[harryskid 193]

I thought the blue book said there had to be no joins in the cockpit ?

 

Are you allowed to use the Aeroquip type bulkhead fittings ?

 

Any advance on the lengths required ?

 

 

Cheers,

David

I have on good authority from a MSA scrutineer who checked my car over when i had a new MSA log book. Also its been through scrutineering several times and passed .

[Cameron 16]

Are you sure? There is no way that it is 2m from the pump to the fuel rail directly, let alone by the time you've twisted and turned around the various parts.

 

Very roughly off the top of my head, you're looking at about a meter from the pump to near the handbrake, about 1.5-2m from there to the bulkhead, and about 1.5m or so in the engine bay, depending on routing. That makes 4.0-4.5m one way, or 8-9m both ways. Bit of slack or routed differently, that's 10m+ as stated above.

 

As said though, you really need to measure it because the route you take will make a big difference.

 

Pretty sure. Think about it, here's the pic of the 205 dimensions off the main site:

 

 

The wheelbase is only 2.4m, so how can it be 3 - 3.5m from the tank to the bulkhead? If you roughly interpolate from that sketch then the tank to the bulkhead is around 2/3rds of the wheelbase, so 1.6m, then from the bulkhead to the engine bay is about another 1m. It really isn't as far as you might think!

 

Steve nailed it basically, if you want to know for sure then go to your car with a bit of string and measure the route you want.

Edited February 5, 2010 by Cameron

[Cameron 16]

Ps, Steve is that the Krontec (sp?) tube from 'Tweeks? I've been meaning to get some of that stuff for a while but never been quite sure about how to plumb it in to the fuel pump. Do you need to flare the ends like with normal fuel lines, then use short lengths of hose to join it to the pump?

[Anthony 1,003]

The wheelbase is only 2.4m, so how can it be 3 - 3.5m from the tank to the bulkhead? If you roughly interpolate from that sketch then the tank to the bulkhead is around 2/3rds of the wheelbase, so 1.6m, then from the bulkhead to the engine bay is about another 1m. It really isn't as far as you might think!

Pump is about halfway between the rear of the door and the rear wheel, and the fuel rail fractionally in front of the front axle, so say a little under 2m as a direct line, not taking into account height or having to be routed across the car.

 

Pump is located behind the drivers seat, so you'll need to come across to the center or passenger side of the car, down to the exhaust tunnel / floorpan (depending where you're running it), to the front of the passenger cabin, into the engine bay, up and across to the drivers side of the car and around the engine, and then to the rail. That's far from a straight line.

 

Think of it another way - your armspan (fingertip to fingertip) is about 1.8 - 2.0m, and you're saying that you did the run with just over that distance worth of pipe? I'm pretty confident that when someone measures it, it'll be nearer twice that.

[Cameron 16]

I'll extend it to 3m then just to be safe.

[harryskid 193]

Anthony is right!.

Harryskid

[SPGTi 2]

Ps, Steve is that the Krontec (sp?) tube from 'Tweeks? I've been meaning to get some of that stuff for a while but never been quite sure about how to plumb it in to the fuel pump. Do you need to flare the ends like with normal fuel lines, then use short lengths of hose to join it to the pump?

 

Cameron,

 

Hardline can be bought from James Lister motorsports (see website) or goodridge or speedflow. There is also a kitcar place in Devon / Cornwall (tiffosi or something like that) that sells it. I think I paid about £5 for 7m. It can be flared etc for fittings but where the fuel pump is I pushed it into a long length of std rubber pipe that was clamped to the tails on the pump and used a few fuel pipe clips to clamp the hardline inside the rubber tubing.

 

steve

[Cameron 16]

Wow that's cheap! A hell of a lot less than 'Tweeks are charging for it!

 

Aha ok, I'm not sure I want to do that, although I'll probably end up having to. I'm not massively keen on having push-on fittings inside the car for obvious reasons, but then it looks like the only way I can do that is to ditch the old in-tank fuel pump and fit an external one that I can then attach fittings to.

[harryskid 193]

Wow that's cheap! A hell of a lot less than 'Tweeks are charging for it!

 

Aha ok, I'm not sure I want to do that, although I'll probably end up having to. I'm not massively keen on having push-on fittings inside the car for obvious reasons, but then it looks like the only way I can do that is to ditch the old in-tank fuel pump and fit an external one that I can then attach fittings to.

My pumps in line in car, mounted in a sealed alloy box above the fuel tank but i do not have a standard tank. My tanks alloy and mounted under drivers side and is only half the size of a plastic pug tank but the take off points come into the same place as normal. That,s why there is a sealed box ,it makes life easier to get at the pump.