Manx Club

I read a prior thread, mentioning that using copper tubing for gas line, will break down from vibration?? I friend of mine is re-doing a buggy with no existing fuel line and the owner of CarCraft, in Riverside Ca. says copper is great, easy to bend and no electrolysis. Just keep it protected from getting smashed flat. Any thoughts pro or con if this O.K.?? Jimbo

Jimbo, I like stainless steel or aluminum (proper wall thickness, of course). A friend had copper tubing in his MG, and it corroded. You know, that blueish crap that coats the inside? I made a manifold heat riser out of copper tubing and it cracked due to vibration and stress. I wouldn't use it for fuel line.

?.. easily bent, easily mashed flat, & blueish crap ? & ... copper and stainless is a bit pricey when compared to steel gas line ? If you slip a 3/8" poly tubing over the 1/4 " it will also prevent the rattle syndrome ? :2cents:

I changed mine out and first used aluminum tubing. I found steel tubing in 25foot rolls from Summit Racing. They sell it in several diffirent sizes. I am using the 1/4" size. Cost me about the same for 10 foot of aluminum as it did for the 25 foot roll of steel. I feel safer using the steel as it will not work harden and crack.

I'll admit to using copper fuel line on a buggy and it was easy to bend and run, no problems for 3+ years. But, for the reasons these guys mentioned, I chose to go a different route with my new buggy. I used 5/16 aluminum tubing, ran through the tunnel. Lined it with a length of rubber hose every few feet to keep the rattles down.

copper here on mine. no problems thus far.

Thanks, Everyone for the input. I will now show the results to my friend and let him decide. I feel there is no substitute for quality. Thanks, again Jimbo

[QUOTE="ManxManiac1"]Yes copper tubing will work fine, but steel tubing is the safest & the best overall. Most automobile manufacturerers used copper tubing until the early 1960's, then they switched to steel tubing. Due to massively fluctuating copper prices & ongoing safety concerns, they started using a easily bent steel tubing, dubbed "Bundy-Flex" by one manufacturerer, that could be "coiled" for a cheaper shipping cost. It was also used for some brake systems & it also resisted cracking due to vibration much better. The original fuel line that was in our DuneBuggy was copper. I removed it & replaced it with a 5/16" steel line. It's ALL Fun, Fun, Fun... ManxManiac[/QUOTE] Available at NAPA Auto Parts in 50 ft roll

When the time comes for fuel plumbing on my wife's clone buggy, I'm going stainless from 'stem to stern.' I only want to do it once, and it will be done before the body goes on.

Dave, I also think stainless steel is the way to go. I ran SS in the original mounting brackets. It's pretty easy to do when the pan is still in two halves.

Because I have shortened the pan to build my Manx SR the registration rules change. I am now having to put a modern computer controlled, fuel injected, unleaded fuel with all of the latest jimcrackery on it etc. engine into it. I'm fitting a Subaru EJ20 single cam, non-turbo to keep it as light and as simple as possible. With the new electric fuel pump at the front, I therefore needed to fit a 3/8 supply fuel line and a 5/16 return line. I moved the original fuel line to a new hole beside the front hole in the little plate at the front. That will be the tank fumes line to the charcoal cannister. I fitted the steel 3/8 line into the original hole and the steel 5/16 line into another new hole in the little plate. The lines were encased in clear plastic tubing to eliminate rattles. They go above the pedals assembly to two new holes at the rear of the tube opposite the clutch and accelerator tubes. I then built a small steel plastic taped bracket to support the tubes in the middle. That is bolted to the front gear shift bolt hole such that there is now a bolt poking up at that place and the gearshift is held there with a nut. Doing that from underneath and inside the tube was fun. My consulting engineer said that I did well, so I can only hope that it lasts well as trying to do it again with the body on would be nigh on impossible. If you go that route, I suggest fitting the new fuel lines when the pan is apart for shortening because that job was one of the most irritating and fiddly jobs I've done on the car so far.