Fuel line upgrade suggestions?

[ScotiaFE]

I really like that Black Summit stuff. Really looks great and seems to be holding up well.

Corrosion?
I live in sodium central. Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. You want SALT.

[drdano]

So, what I ended up ordering last night was Summit brand -6AN PTFE hose, a variety of PTFE hose ends which are zinc plated steel by Aeroquip and the appropriate NTP to AN adapter fittings which I also made sure were all steel as well.  I've never used the aluminum stuff before, which I know works but I was afraid I'd get a bit heavy handed with it and screw it up.  The aluminum stuff *should* be used with appropriate AN wrenches, which I don't own.  I'll update the thread with how the hoses work out, but I'm sure they will be great.  I'm not wild about the braided steel, I still remember slicing the hell out of my hands on old braided lines on a v-drive boat I had years ago. 

Salt corrosion is an issue on this car, but from running around at Bonneville the past 8 years as a spectator and will surely get worse as I'm planning to run it in the 130 amateur class this September.  The inspectors follow the NHRA-ish rules for general items for that class, so the fuel system was surely not going to pass tech out there just like it wouldn't pass at the local dragstrip at Bandimere or Douglas. 

[66FAIRLANE]

Any wrench will work on the aluminium fittings. I just use a normal open ender and lay a peice of insulation tape in the jaws and fold it over. Voila! No damage.

[jayb]

+1 on that.  Also, you can still damage the ends by using the aluminum wrenches if you are not careful. 

[lovehamr]

Dano, are you not concerned about 1/4" lines feeding your beast?  I recently switched my Cobra over to FI and had to run a return line so I took the "opportunity" to reline the whole system.  I used 1/2" Aluminum hard line and #8 braided on the pressure side and 3/8" hard line  with #6 braided on the return side.  The aluminum line was easy to work with and I only used the flex line at the engine compartment.  I thought it the most sanitary way to do it.

[drdano]

I've not yet run into fuel supply problems with the 1/4" line that I'm swapping out.  However, that is with just test 1/4 mile blasts while tuning the carb and general hoodlum hot rodding.  You may be right, I may need to redo the whole system into the tank with something larger, especially since I'll be doing a 1 mile drag race at Bonneville in the 130 class.  Time will tell.    

[machoneman]

My 2 cents: good idea to upgrade the line size to prevent the carb's float bowls from emptying on a long run. A lean-out at WOT is not good news.

[drdano]

Very valid points.  To go to -8AN means a fuel pump swap, full line swap and work on the tank.  I'm currently running a Carter 6905 on Barry's recommendation for this motor.  I may need to stop where I'm at the line swap now and return what I've got for -8AN and start going down that path instead.  Planning for the future, -8AN should be sufficient from tank to carb, correct?  This motor is pretty much Jays 450HP 428 dyno mule but with a larger hydraulic roller cam in it. 

[lovehamr]

Dan, I'm hardly what anyone would call an expert so I found these.  Each has some really good info to take into account especially if you'll be at WOT for some time.  I'd love to hear other opinions on this from experienced people as well.

http://www.magnumforceracing.com/store4/magnaflow/magnaflow_fuel_system_technical_notes.htm

I know this one is from the dark side but the info is generic and sound IMHO.

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/0606ch_carbureted_motor_fuel_system/viewall.html