I hate rust. I have been at war with it for as long as I've owned cars, so I try to use stainless steel when I can. When I found out (thanks to orange appearing in my glass fuel filter) my GS's original gas tank had rusted inside, I yanked it and wanted to replace it with a SS version, but they were pricey so I got a plastic race car fuel cell as a temporary tank. So far, so good, but my original steel fuel lines were probably rusty as well. And I've been told that running new fuel line up to the engine compartment is not feasible without lifting the body. So I decided to clean out those 51-year-old lines and keep using them. I used an electric fuel pump to run paint thinner through the lines until what was coming out in the bucket was clean. Blew compressed air through them to blast any remaining stuff out, and then connected the fuel cell to those lines using new rubber hose. Yay, ready to fill 'er up and crank the motor. After cranking, lo an behold, my new fuel filter is full of orange stuff. Hopefully none of it got past the filter and into my newly rebuilt Holley 850. Was crud hiding in the mechanical fuel pump? Dunno. Now I have to unhook the line at the engine end, clean it out, replace the filter again, and figure out hot to make sure there's no more junk in those lines. What I should have done was disconnect the fuel line just before the filter, and crank the engine to make sure there was no crud hiding in that link in the fuel-delivery chain.
This was thankfully only a vent line to the evaporation tank but 40+ year old fuel lines are going to be suspect especially the parts you don't easily see up over the rear axle. When I stripped all mine out for the EFI conversion there were a few barely hanging in there.
Thanks, Joe. I know a lot of guys don't trust this type of filter and I can see reasons why. Does anyone make a "safe" fuel filter that is also transparent so you can see what is headed towards your carburetor?
Good point. There are so many places along the frame where you can't see the condition of things. I owned a '68 Chevelle with an engine that ran too lean. One day I found where the fuel line had rusted through and was letting air in. I guess I was lucky it hadn't been leaking enough to start a fire.
Use the plastic ones, https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Inline-Filters-Industrial-Performance/dp/B01LD94368
Let’s just say the hot spot of the fire was in the general area the filter was in. Was late in the evening on an open road if you know what I mean. Got off the highway and the rest is history. Just a word from fire fighters that put out the fire. If you disconnect the battery it can stop the spread of a fire into the interior.
After that every car I own has a metal fuel line and the filters have flared fittings. Only hose is from the frame to engine braided steel. Used PTFE on my current GS from hot rod fuel hose.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. My engine already has an overheating problem. I don't want it to get to THAT level.
@69GS&M21 people will think I own a NiCopp line company for the number of times I sing the praises of this stuff. I have replaced every line in my car with it. I did the front brakes, then the rear lines over the axels. Last fall I did the fuel lines and the long run to the back brakes. I bought it all on Amazon along with stainless gravel guard. (The stop shop and/or inline tube depending on the size). I also bought new frame clips as a few of mine were pretty rough. I was able to swap all the lines and match all the basic placements with the body on the frame- it's very clean and professional looking. The NiCopp is so easy to work with that you can feed it through the tight spots and mold it to match the existing line bends. I used more gravel guard than factory as I had it and the NiCopp is softer so why not protect it a bit more in spots that might get an occasion stone or road debris. I was able to do all the runs as one piece and it will never rust. Of course, I also updated all any older rubber hoses at the same time. The only downside I have heard is that some guys claim it can turn green over the years (copper oxidizes a bit). I decided to just hit it with some cheap gray primer so it would not be an issue. Clear would also work if a guy wanted to do it after install.
Before I knew better I ran a glass filter. One day after a quick breakfast biscuit run I smelled fuel; it was pouring out on the intake. It wasn’t broken, just leaking (again, this time profusely) from the crappy chinesium tolerance chrome threads. I removed it and flung it as far into the woods as I could and clamped in fuel hose until I got a new steel line. Patrick
Thanks for that info, BostonCat. I will definitely check out NiCopp as part of my planned upgrades on my '69. BTW, if you're in Boston, I hope the storm didn't affect you too much. It think it's the same storm that hit us to the west of you. We got a foot or so of snow.
Ok, that really sucks! I have been running one of these glass filters in both my GS's for 30 years. Guess I am convinced it's a bad idea now. So sorry about that.
Dang, I guess I have lived a charmed life, because of all the bad automotive luck I have had over the years, it hasn't included fuel filters. I did have one of the 3 carbs on my "67 Vette leak and hydrostatically lock up the engine. After that I decided that a 6-barrel is too many problems waiting to happen, so I usually ran it with the fuel shut off to the outboard carbs.
We did get a little snow Jeff @69GS&M21 (ok a foot of snow) but with this pandemic, I'm working from home. I waited for it to tail off, fired up the snowblower, and broke out the shovel for the detail work. I had it under control in a couple of hours, I needed the exercise... I will say I was glad I was not on the road, it was pretty miserable for a bit.
