Technical fuel line

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Technical fuel line

JakeF

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Hi,

Tips for changing the fuel line from tank to fuel pump?
The line goes inside the tunnel, so I assume I have to remove the tunnel? Where is it connected to the short metal line which is inside the trunk(left side)? Somewhere in the tunnel?

thanks! (y)
 
Jake

To be specific about your questions, you need to remove the rubber mat or carpet over the tunnel, take off the black metal 'heater' trunking at the front and the flat black access panel at the rear of the tunnel. I have incuded a photo showing the connection of the hose to the rigid pipe from under the car.

I have a RHD 69F, I assume that all the cars will be similar. When you remove the mats and covers etc the run will be self evident. The hose runs across the top of the tank, down throught the firewall and into the passenger footwell. Inside the footwell it runs around and down the wheelarch, across the front of the footwell, bends again to run through the inside of the tunnel (on the left had side). Exits the back of the tunnel and joins an rigid fuel line. This rigid line terminates in the engine bay where a short length of hose connects it to the fuel pump.

Any transits through sheet metal are protected by rubber grommets. Tabs inside the tunnel and footwell secure the hose.

Remove the mats and covers inside the car.
Take photos and notes of how the hose runs. Have a torch handy.
Loosen any tabs you can find in the tunnel.
Disconnect the hose at the tank and plug both the tank and the hose.
Disconnect the hose under the car and let the fuel in the line drain out into a container.
Plug the ends under the car.
Pull the hose out gently and then run the new hose.
(Thinking aloud, you could try joining the new to the old with a piece of pipe under the car and pulling the new in as you pull the old out. Not sure how this will go.)
Reconnect and check your connections.

As always, make sure the car is well supported when you are working underneath. Make sure you plug all the lines as you disconnect and double check as you connect. You do not want the throttle choke or starter cables rubbing against the fuel hose in any way after the replacement.

Replacement is not difficult, just fiddly. Do not plan on going for a run an hour after you start.

SANY1109.JPG
You can see the fuel line exiting the tunnel, curving up to join the rigid line that is a coppery colour. This photo does not show a hose clamp that was added later.


Regards

Joe R
 
Thanks Joe. The pic is clear and now I actually remember that pipe. Should not be a big job! :)
 
Joe, I'm trying to do the same thing actually with my fiat 500 F, 1967. My tunnel ports though aren't nearly as large as yours underneath the car. In fact it is a tiny hole just big enough for the rubber line which runs back up to the tank, possibly the same way you describe. And in to the firewall from the tank is as well a hole just the size of the line, so its tight. I have carpet laid down in the cabin of the car but not sure about how to access the tunnel inside. Maybe taking out the black gear shift housing and starter housing area? Any help would be appreciated. Brandon
 
Brandon,

I just did this couple week ago. Easy job. You have to remove the center mat at least at the front end of the tunnel. The front end of the tunnel has to be removed so you need to take of the two heating tubes.
Remove the marked screws and the tunnel is free. There are 2 screws on each side of the tunnel, in the pic you can only see one side :). You need to also remove the hatch at the rear of the tunnel, 4 screws. No you can pull out the fuel line just be sure you have drained the line. And check the old routing carefully that it wont be scratched by anything.
 

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Jake, I was thinking about just attaching the new hose to the end of the old one either under the car or at the tank end and then pulling it through. Are there any clamps or metal attachments in the tunnel which hold the fuel line that may make my idea difficult? Also, with regards to the tunnel cover, I assume I'd have to first take out the black storage compartment for documents and change that sits up under the dash prior to accessing the cover? Thanks a lot for your help. Brandon
 
If it is fitted correctly you cant pull it by help of the old one. There are couple of clamps. It took me about 1.5 hours, whole process.
I got the tunnel of without removing the storage box.
 
Brandon,

not sure why the holes are different sizes. By rights I would have thought that wherever the hose passes through a hole in the metal, it should be protected by a rubber transit or grommet. If not the hose will just be rubbing against a sharpis metal edge all the time.

On my car (69F) this is the case for most of the cables that run through any metal panels.

Joe R
 
I've been hard at work on the fuel tank today and I will be changing the hose around soon. I was wondering if the process above is the same for a D from 1963?

I was kind of hoping I could either just thread the new hose through from underneath the car, or I could connect the new hose to the old with a piece of dowel or something joining them up and then do a combination of pushing and pulling to get it through.

Any thoughts on if the above is likely to be possible? Or will I have to pull up the carpets and on screw that tunnelled?
 
Any thoughts on if the above is likely to be possible? Or will I have to pull up the carpets and on screw that tunnelled?

I'm not sure that it's possible to pull a new pipe through like that but I wouldn't try it anyway. There is so much going on inside there including bare, steel cables that move up and down under tension.:D The pipe is kept in place by primitive tabs of sharp-edged steel.

Really, as a minimum you need to take out that awkward heat divider tube in front of the gearstick and the triangular cover at the back. I recommend photographing or drawing a diagram of the route the existing pipe takes in order to aid replacement.

I think some people use copper tube and I'm not sure if that would be easier or perhaps cause more problems. I recommend getting proper, modern, ethanol resistant "rubber" tube and carefully following the original route, double-checking that nothing can catch on the pipe once fitted.
 
Aw nuts. Thanks for the tips I didn't realise it travelled through a space that was so well-used.

Is it easy to take off the heat divider tube?

The photos tip is something I almost learned the hard way - removed all the wiring from the front lamps then had no idea how to return it! Luckily had a pic :)
 
Aw nuts. Thanks for the tips I didn't realise it travelled through a space that was so well-used.

Is it easy to take off the heat divider tube?

It's a PITA but not that hard. I note that it's been covered before, earlier in this thread. The hardest thing is that the hand throttle mechanism impedes things if you try to do it without detaching it, and if you do detach the cable it can be tricky.
 
It is awkward, by possible, to move the front of the central tunnel (with the heater tube outlets) over to the passenger side with the hand-throttle left attached. The clip to retain the hand throttle can be a P.I.T.A. to refit! Lifting the front section of the centre tunnel up and across does normally give you enough room to re-install throttle cable, clutch cable, fuel line etc.:bang::)
 
If it is fitted correctly you cant pull it by help of the old one. There are couple of clamps. It took me about 1.5 hours, whole process.
I got the tunnel of without removing the storage box.

Hi jake, I hate to contradict anyone on here, but I have in the past replaced my old fuel pipe with braided steel piping by tying the new to the old with string and gently easing it down the tunnel. It's a bit of a faff but can be done (y)(y)(y) see before and after pics.

Ian.
 

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Hi jake, I hate to contradict anyone on here, but I have in the past replaced my old fuel pipe with braided steel piping by tying the new to the old with string and gently easing it down the tunnel. It's a bit of a faff but can be done (y)(y)(y) see before and after pics.

Ian.

Ian, I replaced all the bits in the tunnel at the time when the bodyshell was on its side, so I had a good view of everything without straining my neck. It's not quite as straaightforward in there as the big space might lead you to think. Braided pipe would be a good defence to all the competing cables, but simply pulling the pipe through is risking that you are either impeding another function or putting a strain on or damaging the pipe itself or one of the cables.

A while ago I needed a bit more "give" in the heavy starter cable when I fitted the 650 engine. So I pulled through a bit of slack created at the front end of the car. A few weeks later I tracked down the cause of a sticky throttle pedal to the cable putting pressure on the throttle cable. It only took a few minutes to unravel the mystery by removing the heater-flap inspection cover, but things could have got very serious if the battery cable insulation had got severed.:eek:
Petrol, electricity and sharp edges do not make good bedfellows.
 
Thank you all for the discussion - I can't believe I missed the detailed instructions above.

It seems like a good learning experience if nothing else to just get in there and check it out. I'm hoping the route isn't too torturous as I've only got 2m of new hose, thinking that would be ample!
 
Thanks for the tips again.

I took off the cover today and found this underneath.
Quite a few wires and tubes, and the grommets were quite tight meaning I doubt I could've pushed the tube through behind the old one.

There are two U clamps that the fuel hose travels through and even with the cover off the hose managed to pop out, so good advice given. And it actually didn't take that long plus 2 metres was exactly enough hose.

Only question I have now is that I'm left with a 2m hose full of air. Is this going to cause a problem when I go to start the car?
 

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You might have trouble getting the fuel to flow through from the tank to the fuel pump initially. Prior to having all the work done on my 500 I drained the tank (remove the pipe feeding the fuel pump and the fuel will syphon out) and ran the carb dry. Upon refitting tank etc I just could not get fuel to flow from the tank. I cured the problem by putting a couple of gallons of fuel into the tank (almost 1/2 full) putting the hose from my small electric tyre pump into the filler hole, holding a rag around the pipe to seal it, and with the feed pipe to (and at) the fuel pump disconnected, turned the air pump on. This pressurised the tank and forced the fuel through the pipe to the pump. As soon as the fuel was flowing out of the pipe ( by the pump), I turned the air-pump off, ran round to the back of the car and refitted the fuel pipe to the pump. If you have somebody who can supply a 2nd pair of hands to help, so much the better--and most probably somewhat safer!! (y):)
 
AW nuts i hope it's not that complicated.
I'm first going to try syringing fuel into the hose until it's full then blowing as hard as I can to get it to the pump.
Will have supplies ready to remove taste from mouth.

Guess this won't pressurise the fuel tank but not having a tyre pump thing I'll start with home made measures!
 
Did you put rubber hose instead of a metal one? Because this is not a very good idea.
 
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