Fuel line question....

My PO installed all braided lines and they look great! I will see next week if I get downgraded in a concours.

 

Sorry to hijack this post, but- Randy are you going to the Forest Grove Concours next weekend?
http://www.forestgroveconcours.org/

I've never been, maybe one of these days. It's the same weekend as the club's big Eastern WA/Gorge trip, so I can't make it.

 

It really isn't necessary. The issue is neglect. If they were just changed every 15 to 20 years, and checked periodically. The cars that are blowing up have NEVER had the hoses replaced, and never had them inspected by a reputable shop. The newest 308 is now a 20 year old car, the oldest 308's are 30 year old cars.

 

I used a standard fuel grade rubber hose throughout my 308 from NAPA. It is good quality Gates without the cloth weave around the outside.

 

Before spending the money on silicone, which is indeed the cat's meow in motorcycle racing, I would use Aeroquip fuel hoses. They look cool and IMO give the car a more racey look. I guess it's like Dana says: as long as you replace them you're doing good! Just remember to replace that darn fuel filler as well as the lower tank union hoses and even the breather.

R/Dan

 

While you are doing it be careful not to shave any rubber off the inside of the lines when you push them onto the fittings. I'm pretty sure that is what caused one of my carbs to crap out this spring.

 

Please allow me to add to the old hose dilema. As an old pilot who has restored several old airplanes I can attest to the danger of old and deteriorating hoses. In the late 50's a gentleman purchased a Curtiss P-40 that had been sitting at Boeing field for three years. He hopped in it and took off for California but made it as far as northern Oregon where he experienced engine failure and put it down in a pasture. Cause: fouled carb, fouled fuel pumps, fouled hydraulic system and filters full of debris from deteriorating hoses. Destroyed a beautiful airplane but walked away from it. New and upgraded hoses and seals are essential to the longevity and safety of any machine that is twenty to thirty years old and maybe less. Old fuel and hydraulic fluid are just as dangerous to the healthy operation of a car or plane. Same with old farts like me, the arteries start to calve chunks and foul up the pump. Take care of your equipment !!

 

Fortunately we haven't had to hose you down OR call a flatbed to tow you home.................................

 

I HAVE been hosed down but the flat bed hasn't been used to get me home, YET. Although, I have encountered some flat beds after I got there. Dern kids never quit.

 

Morning Bob....Uh P-40 in a pasture.....boy wouldnt that be a cool find. Wonder where it wound up?

 

Yes. Hope you guys have fun on the gorge run! Hope the wind isn't blowing too hard!

At our place just south of Biggs Junction we get 14 MPH average wind speed every day of the year! Have clocked just over 100MPH about every 10 years.

 

Afternoon, Steve. I have no idea what became of that airplane but I do remember seeing it sitting near Galvin's flite service for a long time. It was an N- model in natural finish. When the guy bought it he removed the cowlings and ran it up for a few days then buttoned it up and left for his short trip south. I thought at the time that I would have thoroughly flushed everything and checked the seals and hoses to get the dirt, gum, and varnish out of everything. I still have a photo of it somewhere so I will check through my stuff to see if I can find a serial number. I was cogitatin about that 308 fire and cracked hoses and how braided hoses might stop the leaks but the interior walls of old hoses deteriorate over the years and contaminate everything. I'm wondering if that isn't what happened to DJ's 308.
Nice hearing from you.
Bobzart

 

My problems started AFTER I got rid of the old hoses.

 

Boy, I'l tell you what, there have been several aircraft downed for the very same reason sence I have been flying.The hoses look good on the outside but are pretty sad inside. I need to get off my dead ase and change all hoses on the junkstang. Have rounded up a local heated hanger and perhaps get to that task after Christmas. Not to many P-40 N models out there. Wonder who has it? There was a clowd seeding outfit that operated out of Yolo Co Airport in Ca. in the 50's and they used N's. I have been beating the bushes in that area for 25 years looking for a proported P-40 seeder in a barn. Go through all those box's of photos Bob. Be neat to find out where it is. DJ, have a good time at the Gorge. C uh....Steve

 

Thanks man...........................

 

WARNING: Silicone should not be used for fuel supply. You could get away with using a fluorosilicone type for delivery/transfer of fuel but use neither types for constant flow of fuel.

Stick wth nitrile rubber hose, preferably without the cloth or stainless outer braiding.

 

Phil Wallick just sent me this of Chino fly in gaggle of P-40's. John Pauls E and N, Tony Bantas E and Bob Ponds N. These were used in the movie Pearl Harbor....Bantas E was not.
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Beautiful shot, Steve. I sort of grew up with the Curtiss series of fightters starting in 1938 with the Hawk 75 types ( radial engine ) that eventually developed into the P-40, Allison powered, and eventually into my favorite, the P-40 N and M series which were Rolls Powered. I have read several articles by ex fighter pilots who say that the P-40 was a much better airplane than people have given it credit for. Not as good as the Mustang but very capable. I watched operations at Sarasota Airbase during the war before I went in and it was great fun watching the tactical training that they went through, air to ground gunnery was performed on the key to the north of us, Longboat Key, and I saw lots of action including numerous crashes and in-flight incidents. In the fall of 1943 there were two squadrons operating out of the airbase and one of them was down to three airplanes at the end of the month. Training accidents occurred daily, sometimes 4 or 5 at a time.
I worked at the airport after the war when I was on summer vacation from Duke and we dug up and retreived a constant source of wreckage from the area around the field, some with bones in it.
Man I get carried away.
Bob

 

Yeah, I did get carried wawy with my bad writing. The only Merlin powered P-40's was the F model, The N and M still had Allisons.

 

I posted a correction to my previous statement but I guess I didn't do correctly. I got carried away with my writing and incorrectly said that the N and M models had Merlins. They had Allisons and the F-models had Merlins.

 

Been looking for a suitable pix of an Allison, but cant come up with one. Yes, the smooth top cowl of the P-40F gives away the updraft carb on the Merlin 1650-1. Only one F model around, with Stephen Gray in England. Boy, we have done it again Bob....sortta off the hose thingy, but still fun.

 

It's FRIDAY NIGHT! Do you know where your TR is?

 

Okay, Dana. We get the message. I like cars, boats, and Ferrari's but when it comes to airplanes I'm gone. Exotic and well designed sports cars are jes like airplanes except their wings are a lot smaller and the propellors are hidden somewhere. Beautiful machinery and the beautiful sounds make life necessary.

 

Mine is still parked in the current owner's garage!