There has been a leak in my fuel line somewhere in the tunnel. It was a gradual leak as the car started to smell of fuel gradually over a about week's time. But when it let go, it was dripping out of the fork ends in the tunnel and from the front gearbox mount too. I have since drained my tank.

The rear fuel line is fine all the way to the tunnel, as is the front line. so how the f%#@$ am i going to get into the tunnel to check out where exactly its leaking from? I Think it may be from the front end as the chassis was a bit wet where the floorpans connect with the tunnel section. I've got the fuel tank out and that doesn't help me locate the leak at all...

FYI: the front and rear solid lines sticking out from the chassis are movable (in and out) bye a couple inches.

heeeeeeeeelp!

PS: its a 54 beetle


:jesus

Bugger,
No idea dude!! Running a separate fuel line may be the only choice. Will be hard to find a neat place to run it though.

Hiya dude,are you 100% sure its leaking inside the tunnel,see if you can pressurize the line get a short length of hose screw a bolt in one end and hoseclamp it to the fuel line on the other end hoseclamp a longer length of hose and attach it to an airline or pump or blow in it,sounds good in theory anyway,goodluck.

It appears to be in the tunnel, i wouldn't be leaking from the rear fuel line where the flexible lines connect with the solid ones as the fuel was leaking from in front of that area (and the car is on a slight incline biased towards the rear)
The front fuel line is new(er) and is in good nick. So... I dunno... i'll keep on poking around, but I think I'll need to find a way to get into the tunnel.. even if its only a small hole so i can see whats going on...

Let us know how you go. I have my pan apart at the moment and will be building it back up in the New Year (finally now I am likely to at least be in the same city by then). I can see through my tunnel as I have everything off, but can't suggest anything except the pressure idea.
Penguin

a temporary fix:

get some copper or steel tubing and bypass the tunnel fuel line. Run it under the car, or inside the cabin. Replacing the fuel line inside the tunnel is quite difficult. Im swapping pans now so its easy when the body is off the pan

Hey guys

I've done the pressure thing with mouth pressure and I can feel the air leaking, so there must be a decent hole in there somewhere! I'll stop kidding myself and face the fact that I'll need to run a new fuel line. I'm thinking of running it in the cabin so it won't corrod on the outside...
Any tips on how I should proceed? How to adhere the line to the chassis? run a solid line through a sheath of rubber fuel line for protection against scuffing?... etc?

Even if I can find out where in the tunnel the leak is coming from, what can I do about it since it's in the tunnel?

sorry about all these seemingly stoopid Qs...
ta

<save tofu>

Tofu

you may or may not care but i think there is some rule that says a fuel line cant run inside the occupied cabin.

Maybe a copper tube inside a copper tube run along side the side frame running board support???

I wasn't aware of such a rule. erk! So, you're sugesting running it next to the the running board mount?
What do you think of the chances of threding it through the tunnel? Like when you're trying to install electic cables in the walls of your house? The bad thing is, that the line won't be secured in the tunnel... is that not complying with RTA standards too?

ta blue!

may be send a email to Wes. He would have had to do something with his return line on his fuel injection.

Maybe if you get on his web site he might have mentioned something there :jesus

i had exactly the same problem, with a fuel smell and the fuel leaking out the back when the front was lifted up, it ended up being the Front join of the flexi line to the solid line. The fuel would run down the line into the tunnel.

so in your case, it was the flexi line from the fuel tank to the solid line?

hmmmmmm

How should I go about installing a new fuel line? any ideas?

ta

I have put a length of 7 core cable thru the tunnel.. I just drilled a hole below the fuel tank, put a rubber grommet in the hole and threaded a piece of stiff wire thru to the back. I then drilled a 20mm hole in the tunnel under the rear seat, added a rubber grommet and hooked onto the wire in the tunnel with another piece of wire with a hook bent into it.... and then thru another grommet thru to the outside next to the gearbox...
Your fuel line should be able to go the same way, whether You use copper pipe or a good quality flexible fuel line... cheers .. Lee

oval TOFU,

Have a look at the "Inside a Bug" pics on my website, will show you what you are up against in the tunnel.

:thumb

:jesus

wheres the front access hatch (like the rear access hatch under the rear seat..) or am I away with the :sandrine coz there's no such thing as a front access hatch?

its where the front beam mounts on i think

I was thinking it may have been that panel. I've still go the push-rod handbrake mechanism, so I thought that panel was to access the brake....

cool cool
ta

yep, i'm going to ressurrect this post:

If I run another fuel line through the tunnel (steel braided perhaps? or copper fuel line encased in another flexible line to resist abrasion) is it ok that it's not actually anchored inside the tunnel: it'll be just threaded through from the front to the back using the exsisting holes... Will it scuff on anything sharp inside? It looks pretty smooth from those cut away pics in Old Dubber's website...

cheers ppl

you can purchase some new EVA tube * plastic * fuel grade I have just purchased some big bore tube for my mates drag car 1/2 bore .
You would be better doing it in Plasic with a sleve or copper and a sleve get the copper tube on a roll it will be flexable .
At this time fit a on /off ball valve near the tank you will need FPM or PTFE seals in there for this aplication .

Im not real keen on copper,ide run steel or stainless.

seagull: any particular sleeve I should insert the metal (probably stainless steel) tubing in through? Just normal black fuel line stuff like you suggested?

lugnuts: yeh, i agree. I heard over time they get brittle and are prone to fatigue

yep, its taken me a long time, but I've established that the fuel is leaking from inside the tunnel. I poured about 500ml of water through my fuel line and after about 10 mins, i saw a water seep into the rear of the tunnel cavity (looking through the access panel under the rear seat).

So now that I know I HAVE TO REPLACE my fuel line, do I do it through the tunnel? - or somewhere else?
What's legal?
What's illegal?
What's easy?
What's recommended?

please help!

Hey I just have replaced my fuel line in my pan. The body is off so it is a lot easier.

basically i bought:

- 3/8" OD "Bundy tube" which is a soft annealed steel tubing which is bendable by hand. I bought it from Coventrys and it was a PBR Australia product (they make brake products). Galvanised to stop rust. 6m roll was about $30

- 12.5mm clear polyurethane tubing, this was used as a sheath over the entire length of the fuel line to act as a full length grommet. This is soft and flexible tubing - it stops the tube from getting damaged and it stops it from rattling.

- Am going to be getting some compressing fittings to fit on each end.

I basically pulled out the old tube which someone had replaced before - it was copper and snapped after a few bends ! Drilled some holes and after a lot of bending and shoving etc. Eventually routed two lengths through. I ran two lines so EFI would be easy later on. I drilled holes along the tunnel which i used Zip ties to attatch the fuel line with. The grommets I used at each end were standard ones which i routed out to the larger diameter with a dremel.

The tubing is about 8mm ID which should be large enough for a street car. The tube itself is rated at about 3000 PSI and the fittings should take about that much as well. I think most EFI is about 50PSI??? so it should be fine. I'll post some pics up soon in member's rides.

Note:

It is illegal to run fuel line through the cabin, so it has to be either in the tunnel or outside the car.

Steel tube is definitely prefered because it doesnt work harden as easily as copper and is stronger. The tube was a bit of a pain to route through - more just a paitience thing.

Another option is to run flexible line in the tunnel, although i chose hard line because i just wanted to set it and forget it.

[Edited on 24-10-2004 by Che Castro]

Thanks heaps Che! Thats the info I was looking for! Just sonme Q's though:
When you used the zip ties to secure the line, did yo drill the holes in the side of the tunnel (on the passenger side I would presume)

I thought there are verticle partitions in the tunnel? I know there's one just forward of the gear shifter, so how would you get it through there?

Which end did you start to insert the tubing from? front or rear?

Thanks for the help!

Hi,

I drilled holes on both sides to secure the two fuel lines. I ran one line out at the back next to where the clutch tube comes out, this one was ziptied to the clutch tube where you get at the shift coupler.

First I disconnected the existing fuel line. The previous owner had used 5mm copper tubing and used tiewire to attatch it to one of the other metal lines inside the tunnel, this was cut out and removed. Drilled the holes, 4 in total. I Basically went in from the front and curved the ends and the tube as needed to clear stuff in the tunnel. There is a slight partition at the front of the tunnel near the pedal cluster but I just bent the tubing so it went over it.

I used brass compression fittings which were suitable for the tubing and gave enough of a grip on the tubing. These fittings are dead easy to use, you have to make sure the end is relatively circular and straight and flat. Then you whack it on and tighten it up. tightening it forces a little ring inside the fitting to swage itself into the tube. They are ok for up to about 1000psi i think!

I'll post some pics in my members rides soon