Date:         Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:36:20 -0700
Reply-To:     John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Fuel lines (injector hoses)
In-Reply-To:  <A3535EF0-4323-4370-8894-96925C33F2E0@westal.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

>  Perhaps there is a special tool to remove those metal crimps.  I think
>  I remember using some wire snips to gnaw away at them until they
>  broke.

Do they really need to come off? I removed the old hose and pushed the
new one into the metal ring, securing it with a hose clamp right above
the metal ring. I'm partial to the Mercedes type hose clamps, like Bus
Depot sells. 14K miles later they're still clamped tight and holding
well.

>  Then the fuel hose will be hard to get off as it has been
>  baked into form onto the injector.
>  I've used carpet cutters to slice them a bit to loosen them up.

I used an X-acto knife to VERY CAREFULLY slice about 60% of the way
through the wall of the hose, cutting at a 45 degree angle instead of
perpendicular, and cutting lengthwise in a gentle spiral (kinda like
the seam on the cardboard tube at the middle of a toilet paper roll).
This got me past the nylon mesh reinforcement that's about midway
through the hose wall so all that was holding the hose together was
the inner rubber core. At that point it was easy to tear along the cut
by "unwinding" the spiral all the way down to the metal ring.

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"
'90 Vanagon GL - "Wiesel"