Date:         Tue, 28 May 1996 11:56:00 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject:      RE: fuel lines


>        Ack, someone (forget who) posted that hanous mnessage about how if
>you dont ave clamps on your fuel lines your playing with fire (no pun
>intended). I have an 83', should I look into getting clamps on fuel lines
>or is this just an older bus thing.



I said that, among others. It's an older-bus thing, specifically
those with carburetors instead of fuel injection. Fuel-injection buses
have MUCH higher fuel pressure, and have different fuel hoses and
(I'm sure) different securing methods. I've never had a fuel-injected
bus or bug, and so can't speak for those. Anyone have some insight on
the FI buses?

A knowledgeable listmember said that the main causes of gasoline fires
in carb-engine buses, are abrasion of the metal tube that comes through
the sheet metal into the engine compartment, and a fuel-inlet tube on
the carb that tends to pop out. I've also seen both these things happen
on upright engines, and heartily concur.

My fixes for these two problems, were to cut a 3" length of fuel tubing,
slice it open lengthwise, and wrapping it around the metal tube where it
comes thru the sheetmetal; and to wrap wire around the hose clamp around
the input tube on the carb and wire it to the carb, so that if it pops
loose, it at least doesn't come so loose that it can spray raw gas all
over the engine compartment.

Both of those fixes are patches at best-- they don't really fix the basic
problem, but just get around it. Still, they may save your bus from going
up in flames.

In the case of my '64 convertible bug that went vooooofff, we put it out
fairly quickly with a fire extinguisher. Still, most non-metal stuff in
the engine compartment was incinerated, including the fuel hoses. I don't
know if there were any clamps on the hoses at the time-- I was younger
and stupider then (hard to imagine, I know).

But I did find the inlet tube in the carb (28PICT) still firmly in place,
and no abrasion in the metal fuel tube coming thru the sheet metal. So,
while those two things can indeed be problems, in this case I think they
weren't, which makes me suspect unclamped fuel lines.

The other poster mentioned an opinion that unclamped fuel lines are OK
by design... AS LONG AS THEY DON"T GET OLD AND HARDENED.

To me, this is a very big IF. I never used to inspect fuel lines till
the '64 had its little problem. Since then, I do. But personally, I can't
tell a 6-month-old one from a 10-year-old one. If you buy a VW, only
thing to do, obviously, is replace all the fuel lines with new, so you'll
positively know their age. It's a good idea, really-- fuel hose is cheap
and pretty easy to install, and gives you that extra measure of security.

But on my '69 bus, on which I did this and installed clamps on all lines,
I let them go for a long time, years. Sure enough, I eventually started
smelling gas when I started the engine. Went around back, and saw the slow
drip drip drip from the line going to the carb. Inlet tube was solid,
clamp was in place and tight... but the hose was a little cracked, and
leaking.

Shut it down instantly, walked home, got all new fuel lines, and replaced
them all, and lived happily ever after.

But... what if that line hadn't been clamped? My carelessness in letting
those lines get old enough to crack, could have resulted in an unclamped
line popping off, giving the distributor ("Ol' Sparky") a gasoline bath,
with results we all know.

Would have been my fault, no argument-- carelessness. But I think that
clamp saved my bus. Given that I'm not perfect, I'll keep putting clamps
on every carb engine I own.

    _______
   /\ o o o\         Steve Maher   smaher@gi.com   75461,1717
  /o \ o o o\_______   San Diego, California
 <    >------>   o /|
  \ o/  o   /_____/o|      '80 VW V6anagon w/clamps
   \/______/     |oo|        '66 Mustang Coupevertible w/clamps
         |   o   |o/       '89 Son Sherwin, needs mouth clamp sometimes
         |_______|/
                       http://www.wp.com/IrishMafia
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 The economy's not failing-- there are plenty of jobs available!
 I have three of them!
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