[T3] FI Fuel Hose

[Keith Park]

I used to get Gates hose way back, was very unhappy with it, it would crack,
then Russ started giving out the hose remnants that came off his machine at
Mahle,
I still have them on the car and they worked out very well.  It has been
over 10 years now though and time to re-hose the car again or end up getting
hosed just when I don’t want to be
So put me down for a set.  Thanks

Keith


Topnotch Restorations
topnotch at nycap.rr.com
http://www.topnotchresto.com
71 Squareback  “Hothe”
65 Notchback  “El Baja Rojo”
93 RX7  “Redstur”
13 Subaru Outback "Blendin"

-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org <type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org> On
Behalf Of Jim Adney
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2021 5:52 PM
To: Type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: [T3] FI Fuel Hose

I probably bought my first hose to replace bad FI hose on my Type 3 around
1971. Since that time, I've bought hose from many different sources, slowly
finding good and bad hoses. Very early on, I discovered that 5/16" hose with
the black rubber cover was a good choice, but I always had my eye out for a
good source for the OE style with the woven fabric cover. I never found any.

It's my understanding that the early OE hose was 7 mm ID, but that required
too much stretch and was replaced, I don't know when, by 7.5 mm hose. 
Even that later hose tended to crack, under the woven cover, and leak, near
a connection.

Over the years, I've tried to find good hose that I could sell at reasonable
prices. This was always made difficult by the fact that SAE (the Society of
Automotive Engineers) set hose ratings, but I could not find what those
ratings meant. (SAE requires $$$ to access their ratings online.)

A few years ago, someone here posted this link:

http://www.volksbolts.com/faq/fuelhose.htm.

If you go here, they lay out the basic meanings of the various SAE hose
ratings. These are all versions of J30Rx. Most of what I sold in the past
was probably R3 or R7, as those are very common and our 30 psi FI systems
don't require anything more.

Note that Volksbolts is selling good hose from Denmark, but they're in the
UK, so that's not so unreasonable. I'm sure that hose is good, but I don't
see the point when hose that's just as good can be shipped a couple thousand
miles less.  

It seemed that every time I found a good source for quality hose, that
source dried up soon after I settled on it. Now I've been looking once
again, this time with the SAE ratings in mind. I'd like to get really good
hose with low permeability to gasoline, just to live up to my environmental
responsibilities, but I'd rather not pay an arm and a leg for it. (That web
site calls this permitivity, but that's the wrong word.)

I found a good hose that meets the permeability of R14 while also having the
R9 100 psi rating with a minimum bend radius of 2", which is lower than
anything else I've ever seen. The price is a little higher, but I'm guessing
this is to be expected. The catch is that I'll have to buy 150-250' of it.

It takes about 22' to redo an entire FI car. I can probably still sell this
new hose for the same $3/ft or $60 for 22', plus shipping. Let me know if
this might be something you'd be willing to invest in someday.

For those of you with carbs, I don't have any hose advice to offer. Just be
careful of the brass fuel inlet/outlet tubes on your fuel pumps and carbs. 
Those can come loose and dump raw gas all over your hot engine. Fires from
old, neglected fuel hose is one of the major killers of our old cars, both
carbed and FI.  

HINT: Never add an inline fuel filter in a place where it will add weight to
one of those brass inlets or outlets.

--
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

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