Fuel lines...

[Ed]

Hi,

after spending hours and $$ plumbing my fuel lines (in copper).

Was reading somewhere they reckon copper is a no no??

I bought this stuff from ENZED who assured me copper is fine, I was reluctant to believe him but bought it anyway and fabbed the lines.

Since I am using hi pressure, I bought proper hose ends with compression olives and fitted rubber flex line (EFI rated) to counter effects of vibration and secured the lines using rubber insulated P clamps at regular intervals.

I dont really want to change this to steel or aluminium because of cost and time and the fact that I dont think vibration will cause cracking and failure of this set up.

NSW Guidelines stipulate a suitable material but dont specify what this may be.

I reckon my set up is OK because of the rubber hosing connecting any areas likely to experience movement.

any opinions or experiences on this subject appreciated.

Cheers

Ed

[sgo]

Assuming you're happy with safety aspects  of how the're fitted then if the lines were painted black or matched the under body colour then who would notice?  

[earlyholdenfan]

I know the copper brake lines were illegal but can only pressume the fuel lines would still be ok as they will not be carrying near the pressure, Anyone enlighten me if I am wrong??
Matt

[Martin]

Ed,

There was a discussion on one of the help boards within the last 6 weeks or so about copper brake lines.  In there some of the guys were saying copper is no longer deemed suitable for brake lines and is now illegal.  Are you sure you're not thinking of that thread?

Martin

[sgo]

The problem with copper lines is that they can crack due to continuous vibration.I don't think that pressure is an issue.

[nicko]

when running LPG you have to use copper lines so i dont think you will have any problem using them for petrol,copper been a softer metal should actually make them less prone to cracking thats why they use them for LPG.and as you have flexible end lines you probably have the best of both worlds now.
cheers Nick

[RET]

Have to disagree - there is an article in this month's Street Machine (you know, the one with the link to our site that caused all the contention ) about Fuel System Design:

Fuel Lines
Four common types of fuel line are steel, aluminium, rubber (rated for fuel) or braided line.  Do not use copper line as it can crack or fail due to vehicle vibration.  For safety's sake in the event of an accident or fire, the use of rubber hose  the whole length of the car  is prohibited both for road and track use (though dedicated track cars are permitted to run braided line). Plain rubber should only be used for the short flexible connections at either end of the main (hard) line.

It doesn't say it's illegal - and a quick shufti around the RTA site doesn't turn up anything cut-and-dried on the topic, but the Street Machine article does advise against it.  And a cracked fuel line could make a very fiery mess, I would think.  You would think the guys at Enzed would know, though, just the same.

cheers
RET

[Ed]

Yeah I was reading it in the SM magazine.....

thanks for all ur feedback.  

As nicko suggests the copper is good enough for LPG so should be right for petrol, personally I think i've addressed any areas of concern with respect to vibration and fatigue.

When presenting to the engineer the choice to use copper pipe should be acceptable, as I can justify the use of materials and have implented designs to ensure copper pipe isnt unduly stressed leading to failure.

Cheers

Ed