Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 12:20:35 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Grommet for fuel hole in fire wall
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well guys/girls..........
when it comes to mounting things............
there are sort of two main philosophies .........
mount it and dampen it properly so it can't go anywhere or hurt itself.
This is the 'use power' method used to accomplish something .....
use strong parts, solid grommets etc.......'forcing' something to behave.
the other philosophy, which works absolutely perfectly with anything that's
floppy ..........like fuel hose.........is try not to mount it 'too well'
..........mount it little loose, so no forces can generate on it. - - ,
like the ocean-crossing reed raft the Kon Tiki .........there is nothing
solid for any larger forces to act on, so it can't break apart, it just
flexes endlessly and harmlessly. Very often low tech and casual effort can
trump high tech 'solid' things.
so what I do when I remove that firewall fitting ...........is just join the
engine side hose to the small plastic stock fuel line that's right above the
starter
( 2WD ,not Syncro, of course ). Just run the fuel line under the edge of
the firewall there..........so you can see it easily .......and there's
nothing it can rub on . It naturally rides about and inch and half below
the edge of the firewall there.
There's a small plastic clip way up in there that holds the small black
plastic fuel line. I undo that .......so there's more room for hose routing.
I mean, why would you even want to run it through a firewall grommet so
things can rub there ?
The *only* reason I can think of, is it'll give you something to work on
again someday when it wears some .........it'll take a long, long time yes,
but engine movement will rub the fuel hose in the firewall grommet.
.......... ............why even have a grommet at that particular spot then
!! ?
it's sort of like this .......if any one knows much about sailing, some
people like to mount steps right onto the mast, permanently, so it's easy to
climb up there .
And what happens in practice mostly is...........you climb up those steps to
untangle the sail from the steps, steps that wouldn't cause a problem if
they weren't there.
I think the values I hold the highest are reliability, dependability, and
durability - always lookin' to enhance that on these wonderful vans.
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Stewart" <robertmstewart@MAC.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 9:49 PM
Subject: Re: Grommet for fuel hole in fire wall
> Excellent, as I am about to replace all the fuel line next week. Thank
> you so much! Great job.
>
> Robert
> NY
>
> On Jun 3, 2009, at 10:05 PM, Robert Fisher wrote:
>
>> I was in Autozone looking for a PVC grommet that would fit in the
>> firewall
>> hole where the plastic fuel line connector lives, and I tried a Dorman
>> 'Help!' piece, part # 42055 (for 'various GM models 1983-76'). It
>> popped
>> right in, fit tight without movement, and it has a thick inner wall.
>> It
>> should be available at just about any FLAPS. I thought I'd put that
>> out
>> there and possibly save somebody some legwork.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cya,
>>
>> Robert
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