Replacing Petrol Pipes

[V8 Animal]

Decided to replace the fuel pipes after hearing horror stories on hear.
I knew it wasn't a easy job so decided to let my local garage do it.
He came unstuck he rang me to tell me the rubber pipe joins a copper pipe right over the gearbox and he can't see how to access the joint without removing the gearbox.
Can anyone help on this please?
He did make one suggestion.
Remove rubber and copper pipe and replace the entire length with rubber only.
There must be a reason why it is mixed maybe due to lack of room between the chassis rail and the exhaust or heat from the exhaust but the exhaust wouldn't be as hot as the manifolds where the trouble starts.
Reason for this?
Thanks for any suggestions.
V8 Animal

[Barkychoc]

On my V8S they were (still are) rubber from front to back anyway - I think its what they could be arsed to fit at the time.

ETA: Don't get robbed for the rubber hose either - £3+vat per metre from my local factors - and it has high pressure fuel injection hose printed all the way along it before someone says it must be the cheap low pressure stuff.

Edited by Barkychoc on Friday 31st October 18:24

[bobs4c]

My local "Specialist" replaced the rubber sections without much problem - they had done it before

Bob

[Chimjunkie]

Could take off plenum and inlet manifold? This gives access to my rubber/metal joint.

[sapper]

Chimjunkie said:

Could take off plenum and inlet manifold? This gives access to my rubber/metal joint.

Thats how I did it. Much easier than taking off the gear box,
You are talking about the 2 short lengths behind the plenum?

[V8 Animal]

sapper said:

Chimjunkie said:

Could take off plenum and inlet manifold? This gives access to my rubber/metal joint.

Thats how I did it. Much easier than taking off the gear box,
You are talking about the 2 short lengths behind the plenum?

Yes

[sapper]

V8 Animal said:

sapper said:

Chimjunkie said:

Could take off plenum and inlet manifold? This gives access to my rubber/metal joint.

Thats how I did it. Much easier than taking off the gear box,
You are talking about the 2 short lengths behind the plenum?

Yes

Do it yourself mate its pretty easy. If your stuck give me a shout and ill give you a hand

[joncon]

had mine done on saturday at home by my tvr tech ( he now works at bmw ! ) he took the plenum off , that gave him enough room to access the jubilee clips. took him 15 mins to take plenum off and renew both pipes and put it all back together.

[V8 Animal]

joncon said:

had mine done on saturday at home by my tvr tech ( he now works at bmw ! ) he took the plenum off , that gave him enough room to access the jubilee clips. took him 15 mins to take plenum off and renew both pipes and put it all back together.

That easy?
Thanks will take a look

[V8 Animal]

Had a look around the plenum area for the pipe connectors.
Can see 1 which i think is the return pipe which you can just get at.
The other one disappears over the gearbox and i can't see it could i disconnect at plenum and from underneath pull the copper pipe down till i can see the clip?
Both pipes can be pressed in with my fingers so not brittle and now wondering not to bother as it's too much hassel.

[HRG]

Do it, you'll be shocked when you see the state of them Can't stress this enough.

If you pull on the flexible pipe the lower fastening (above the gearbox) should appear into view (just).

Get yourself a couple of proper fuel pipe clamps while you're at it, not jubilee clips. They tighten easier and won't damage the hose.

[Dave 500]

I did it with out taking the plenum chamber off or removing the gear box

Ripped my hands and arms to bits mind

Edited by Dave 500 on Sunday 2nd November 16:55

[GreenV8S]

V8 Animal said:

Both pipes can be pressed in with my fingers so not brittle and now wondering not to bother as it's too much hassel.

Don't rely on that - they can suffer from heat and vibration along their length and that bit being OK doesn't mean it all is.

[ekim]

I did mine in the drive in about 1 hour without removing anything, the only way i found to get to that one was to get under the bonnet and lye down ontop of the engine with an arm down the back either side of the plenum, you look like a complete tt and you will get cut from all the sharp screws tvr leave sticking out but it is possible, also put the end of the new pipe in sum boiling water for about 10 mins before you fit it, they go on a lot easier.

Also make sure you get sum top notch pipe that can stand the temps of a tvr engine, had to do mine twice as the first stuff i used was just standard fuel pipe from a1 motorcare, it cracked in less than 2 months

[Chimjunkie]

Good point about temp ranges. I just changed mine with a higher quality high temperature fuel hose. Will still change it in a few years though.

[daz the plumber]

just let it burn you will be quids in !

[GreenV8S]

I use 100R6 from Pirtek, it costs a little more but it's a lot more substantial than the flimsy stuff used originally.

Edited by GreenV8S on Sunday 2nd November 20:54

[V8 Animal]

daz the plumber said:

just let it burn you will be quids in !

I also could be dead maybe a bit extreme but a point

[HRG]

You could always wait till the car chucks high pressure fuel around the manifolds as happened to mine

They looked OK!

[Barreti]

I'd like to replace all the copper and rubber fuel lines - fuel and return - this winter.
Can someone tell me what length of what type of each I'll need to replace everything.

I'm off to the classic car & resto show at the nec in a couple of weeks and my plan is to pick it all up there. Or is that a daft idea and better stick to a local supplier?

Re-reading the OP's post, I see you mentioned replacing the copper with a continuous run of rubber. Sounds like a damned good plan to me because it eliminates the joins we know are sometimes an issue.
Is there a reason not to do this or was it just a cost or weight saving exercise?

Edited by Barreti on Monday 3rd November 10:04