Noticed the outer casing on my fuel line is starting to come away.
I know this needs fixing right away - there are many stories of fires breaking out, not just Excels but other Lotus cars with similar set ups.
I purchased some fuel line back at the Lotus parts fair but never got round to changing it (pipe wasn't split then) This is 1/4 inch bore - will that fit and how do you get the exitsting pipe off. It seems to be shrunk around the ouside of the carb inlet connection Does much fuel comes out when you get it off
All help much appriciated as always,
Cheers,
Phil
Cheers, Phil Never take life seriously, nobody gets out alive anyway!
i ordered braided (cotton braid) from demon tweaks and just spliced it in from the lowest point in the engine bay (as it was only the top half which was exactly the same as yours...)
will replace the lot one day, bought enough to do it and it was about £40...
also bought some T pieces/joiners too... about £3 ea...
I noticed last week that mine was exactly the same. The inner pipe seems to be fine though, so not treating this as an emergency while I decide what to do. I used a piece of heater hose to protect the inner tube where it passes over the rear carb.
Paul
'88 MY Excel SE #2551, 1996 TVR Griffith 500, 2006 Ford Fusion 1.6 diesel
be abit careful if you are fitting rubber steal or cotton overbrade as a fit and forget option... dont get me wrong in the short term (years) it ought to be fine, but there have been numerous cases of rubber pipes braking down, as they will due to the nature of rubber, and small leaks going un-noticed untill its too late... afterall lotus fitted plastic/teflon core (whatever it is) for a reason.
the teflon stainless overbrade is actually cheaper than its rubber equivalant per metre... but the fittings are slightly more due to them having oilves. but will be a one time fit (if done properly so it cant vibrate against anything). the teflon core is rated to something crasy like 1000psi so is good for EFI too... just something to ponder...
I do not like braided fuel hose any more. I fitted some on my Westfield about 10 years ago and the rubber perished inside the braid. The only clue was an increasingly strong smell of petrol.
I'd rather have something that lets me see the decay and damage so I can act before it starts leaking.
These are usually crimped on, on the Sunbeams I've owned. I carefully cut thru the metal crimp with a junior hacksaw, then use a sharp knife to diagonally cut off the hose from the elbow/T-pieces.
Pondy
Last edited by Pondlive on Sat Aug 02, 2008 18:52, edited 1 time in total.
amarshall wrote:I do not like braided fuel hose any more. I fitted some on my Westfield about 10 years ago and the rubber perished inside the braid. The only clue was an increasingly strong smell of petrol.
I'd rather have something that lets me see the decay and damage so I can act before it starts leaking.
If it is teflon inside it will not perish.....ever
I agree with Angus regarding braded hose. I think we should make it part of our servicing routine to change the fuel pipe that passes over the carbs - say every 3 years - the cost of the pipe is small compared to a fire. The pipe does get incredibly hot and its hard to know what to use. Lotus must have given it some thought as they didn't use 'normal' fuel line but this pipe in a sleeve which on my car has lasted 20 years so couldn't be all bad. Might give Lotus bits a call to see what they advise as they must come across this problem all the time,
Cheers,
Phil
Cheers, Phil Never take life seriously, nobody gets out alive anyway!
Had a chat with Mike at Lotus bits. As Ylee Coyote says, the inner pipe is made of Teflon and is far superior to normal rubber pipe and can last for years after the outer black protective cover has fell off. The black cover is there for physical protection only. Best option is to replace the black cover with something else e.g that plastic spiral stuff you can put round electrical wiring to protect it. New Teflon pipe is very expensive and not easy to connect,
Cheers,
Phil
Cheers, Phil Never take life seriously, nobody gets out alive anyway!
mine went like that last year. I replaced it with rubber fuel injection grade pipe. The inner teflon bit is hard to cut off with a sharp knife but the rubber pipe slips on with a couple of worm drives, job done. However, the reason that the teflon bit was hard to cut off was that it had gone hard with the heat, and was therefore also brittle. Id get shut, put a new pipe on !!!
Bash
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
I'm considering replacing the entire length of fuel pipe as it's looking very bad.
Rather than trying to replace it with a rubber pipe could I use a solid copper fuel line for the main length (i.e. down the length of the chassis) and limit just the ends where it connects to carbs and the fuel pump to rubber?
I went to PIRTEK,Fluid Transfer,(a national chain I believe), they supplied me with 8mm bore rubber petrol hose,(WF-08-fuel), and a bunch of original looking "double ear clamp O clips,(OC-09), and the special pliers to crimp up the ears,(OCP-98). Rather than chance running rubber pipe through the chassis, where it might eventually perish unseen, I had them weld a pair of (896-06-06) "life saver" tails at each end of a suitable sized hydraulic steel tube,(MET-1015). The tails are ribbed and shouldered, to make a good seal with the rubber pipe, secured with the O clips. I had to bend the steel tube into a lazy S, to go from the bottom front to the rear top of the inside of the chassis drivers side, and miss the pivot bar of the diff support bracket. My chassis was out when I did this, so don't know if possible in situ. I've since found a new carb. supply pipe assembly, for an Esprit, which fits and looks great with only a few mods. For all I know these may be rarer than Excel ones, but if you see one grab it.
I can recommend Pirtek. I got my local branch to make a power steering pipe for my Excel as the original part was no longer available. They were good value and quick.
and how do you get the exitsting pipe off. It seems to be shrunk around the ouside of the carb inlet connection 
