Hard Fuel lines...damn hard

[Scorpion]

So I'm rolling along on my project, have the rear tank (saddle tank relo) in, and today I was going to knockout the fuel lines. Tube work for me is easy and I've done a lot of it and to set this up correctly, I've done a mess of tube work like full cages, tube chassis, exhausts, etc and I'm pretty darn good at it and rarely mis-bend. Even when I do, I don't do it twice. Today I made a mess of 16 feet of 3/8-inch tubing trying to run the main stretch of line between the tank and the front of the truck (LWB 74'). The plan was hard line with tube nuts, AN bulkhead fittings, and AN fittings and soft line to connect to the tank and regulator. I can't believe how much I struggled. First with the hand bender (which was odd to me because I just used the same damn one for the brake line), then with trying to fit it up in there around the drivetrain. Maybe it's because I was attempting to run 8-foot lengths, maybe it's because I just had an off day, but it still sucked regardless of the reason and all of it went into the trash can. I managed to make it out if the shop without throwing anything and that's as close to a victory today as I'm willing to claim.

So I'm sitting here on the couch reflecting. I could run soft line and be done in 30 minutes. I wanted hard line because it looks factory and factory looks sweet when the double take results in a realization that its far from factory. I also know that hard line is much more durable and will out last the soft stuff for longer than I'll likely own the truck. Hard line is the right choice and I know it but I need someone to tell me soft line is good enough. Talk me into it so I can get on with the project without any more hard line thoughts. Tell me no one can see it, no one cares, soft line will last long enough, and the time savings alone makes it worth it in the long run...or tell me to stick to my plan and order another roll of hard line and give it another go (better plan on giving me some tips though).

Matt
(Grumpy in Denver)

 

[Scorpion]

Ah hell...the day sucked so it wouldn't be fair to not share all of the details. Saturday sucked too. Saturday I built a tubing straightener to straighten out the roll of hard line (0.040 steel). The concept was to build one for a fraction of the cost of one of the real ones. I found some rope pulleys at the hardware store which is what got me thinking.

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They fit the tubing perfectly.

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The pulleys use a steel bushing instead of bearings. Figured it would roll well enough.

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The bushing was some freaky metric ID so I drilled it out to 3/8's (just a skim cut)

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And reassembled the pulley using the vise on the vise

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Then I machined a piece of aluminum 1/4" angle I had (about 10" in length) for the pulleys. Three holes and two slots.

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Then made an adjustment bar for the slotted pulleys.

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Then a little test fit.

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Now I need a way to adjust the top pulleys. Used a smaller piece of angle and welded it to the top. Then drilled a hole for a set screw.

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Didn't have one (lol) so I made one out of a bolt and turned the head on the lathe.

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And put it I place..

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Turned out cool. Materials on hand + $30. Not bad.

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So tried it out. 8' of tubing. Ran it through maybe a couple dozen times. Did it straighten it?!? Sort of. It got fairly straight. The pic shown below is deceiving. Some of the bend is the weight of the tubing.

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The wheels didn't roll well or even enough so the resistance caused some "tweaks" that I couldn't get out which probably made today's mess partially come to fruition. To make it work, in hind sight, the wheels need some roller bearings so it operates smoothly and allows the tubing to roll through with less effort. The wheels need to be further apart too. Maybe add a few inches to the over all length. The wheels need to have a shallower groove cut into them too. The pulleys offered too much resistance (though with roller bearings it may not matter. I may machine the wheels too so that the groove surface is smoother. The pulley wheels weren't exactly smooth. They were close but Since they're cast, they do have some subtitle imperfections.

So basically fail Saturday, fail Sunday. There...whole story.

 

[MrMarty51]

OH NO, Not a failure.
I seen some mighty nice machinery a running there.
Mill the pulleys out to accept the roller bearings.
It looks to me that the straightener worked good enough to get the tubing where it was useable.
Maybe some plastic bushings in them pulleys with some grease would make it roll easier.

 

[foamypirate]

Aww, man, showing me up!

I would keep trying to do the hard line. I was frustrated with mine, bending up the transmission lines. I ended up making them into two pieces so I could fit them through all the tight places. Just used some -6 unions.

I made this a few weeks ago. It's a little small for 3/8" (probably about perfect for 1/4-5/16) but it did the trick. These are glass door rollers, and have bearings:

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Before/after:

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[Scorpion]

Aww, man, showing me up!

I would keep trying to do the hard line. I was frustrated with mine, bending up the transmission lines. I ended up making them into two pieces so I could fit them through all the tight places. Just used some -6 unions.

I made this a few weeks ago. It's a little small for 3/8" (probably about perfect for 1/4-5/16) but it did the trick. These are glass door rollers, and have bearings:

Hardly showing you up. I would have built mine like yours but didn't have, and couldn't get, any angle iron easily by the time I needed it. I saw your pics somewhere and based my idea on them but didn't see how you spaced the rollers until this set of pics (washers I see). I was trying to solve the undersized roller problem you referred to in one of your posts and thought the rope pulleys would do the trick (seemed perfect at the store anyway). I need to order more tube now and, as you mentioned, I need to make the lengths in two pieces so I can get them in there so I might just order 6' lengths of straight tubing to start with. As I recall, it's not that much more.

How hard do you have to push the tube through? I was sweating my butt off.

I will make a rev 2 in the future though mostly because it'll bother me if I don't.

 

[foamypirate]

I didn't have to push too hard, there was some mild resistance. The bearings help significantly I would imagine. The straight 6' lengths might be the way to go, for sure. It's what I should have gone with to begin with as well. Having the tubing straightener will come in handy down the road though, because I'll be doing full brake lines front to rear on my 87'.