rusnak

Pete: I didn't read that yet. I have been thinking through the options. I don't like the thought of taking a fuel hose to a "hydraulic" guy. To me, you need to use fuel hose on a fuel line. The stainless stuff should be covered by some sort of rubber sleeve in my opinion to prevent rubbing on the fiberglass cover. I was wondering why no one has put together a good kit yet.

Peter Zimmermann

OK, the "hard" parts don't need a cover, when correctly installed they won't touch anything - their brackets and fittings hold them firm. The reason that I recommend o.e. only lines is because of the way they fail. Sometimes, for weeks, they will usually give off a gas smell at a point during cool down. That is good, because it gets the driver interested in where the smell is coming from! I have never seen one burst.

The first 3.2 car we diagnosed was a car that was parked nightly in a private garage, beneath a game room where the family enjoyed evening hours. One night they were sitting around, the owner noticed a faint gasoline smell and went to investigate. He didn't find anything wrong, but the third or fourth time his game room had gas fumes he called us.

We found the leak when we saw a small reddish stain at the connection the right arrow points to in the picture on page 102 of my book. A short drive with a fire extinguisher on the seat, and we found the leak as the engine cooled. Imagine our surprise when we put an $800 estimate together (we knew that we could do the job with the engine in the car, and guessed that the only way the replacement could be done was with intake manifold removal)!

How's the weather up there? It went from 88F three hours ago to less than 75F now - very windy, heavy clouds and a very light...what's the wet stuff that falls from the sky called?

Amber Gramps

Here is my shopping list:

https://rennlist.com/forums/5335715-post61.html

Honestly it wasn't that bad. Sparkplugs with the wrong socket, that is bad.

If you are not yet convinced that Pete is God, then here is a little video uploaded on my birthday. It's called the Edge of Disaster. It's a fitting song for what you are about to do. It all sounds good, but you can't make out the words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMsqR7OQZ-g

rusnak

Ahh!! Do you not recommend say, an Earl's fuel line? I have to get home to read, but I wonder, was the line that failed crimped on, or screwed on? What would be better than the factory line, short of going to all hard lines?

Man, it was strange today. Just this afternoon I had the AC on, partly because I wanted to see if it was working. By 6:00PM or so, it was freezing cold and rainy. It seems like this is the second year in a row we've had such cold rain storms late in the year.

Peter Zimmermann

The flex line to hard line connection is usually referred to as a swedge fitting. The metal clamp slides onto the hose, then the hose slides onto the hard line, followed by the clamp being compressed by a crimping tool.

Permit me a short story about non-DOT approved after market lines/hoses. Many years ago I was putting new front shocks on an early '70s 911, removed the upper nut, compressed the strut insert, and reached under to pull the top of the strut clear of the fender lip. I felt the usual bit of resistance that signaled that I had reached the limit of movement that the brake hose would allow. Then, suddenly, there was nothing. The strut just flopped around, and brake fluid began to pool on the floor. An after market, non-DOT stainless brake hose (installed by a different shop less than six months earlier) separated at the compression fitting and simply fell apart.

Imagine your after market fuel line doing that inside your engine compartment on a 100F degree day. Is the risk really worth the couple hundred dollars you'll save by not using superbly crafted and engineered factory replacement parts?

rusnak

Nope. I wonder then how hard it might be to make 100% hard lines? It could be mocked up with welding wire, then transfered via a tubing bender and then flared. I wonder if that would be unsafe? If it could be done, then that might be a permanent fix. One could match the inside diameter of the existing lines. As it is, I don't like the ticking time bomb that is my existing factory lines, and I hate the exchange rates and what has happened to Porsche parts even more.

Peter Zimmermann

You can't use hard lines because there will be nothing to absorb expansion/contraction, or vibration. Remember, the only hard fuel lines that Porsche uses in various models are the injector lines on '81-83 SCs. They got away with it in that application because the injectors themselves are rubber mounted, and can provide sufficient movement to avoid line cracking.