I'm gonna replace my fuel line in my beetle, so do I just pull as hard as I can from one end? What the best method to remove it without upsetting the other pipes in the tunnel?

Cheers

I just pulled it out from the back, no real hassle. There is an article in the December Hot VWs in regard to replacing the line.

Do you have a scanner that I could 'appropriate' the information from? you could email it to me....

oval TOFU,

There is a procedure in the very early factory manuals (ie '58).
If you can wait till Monday, I could send it to you.

If you have a late model I doubt if it can be done, check the tunnel sections at my club web site.

hey Old Dubber

Those pics were really helpful! I seem to have a couple lines which are neatly sitting next to the fuel line just before the front bracket (in front of the gear shift) One of them would ba a brake line I presume...

But yeh, if I could see the "removable process, that would be great! I've got some old manuals, around 1964-ish, but none of them mention anything on this subject...

Cheers

I think the fuel line is clamped in a few places and may take a fair bit of pull to remove it

yeh, I'm afraid of upsetting the integrety of the other lines if I just go all out and yank on the fuel line... I dont wanna be repalcing other hoses in that tunnel! So I'm gonna wait for that artcle that Old Dubber is going to show me...

Grahame

Congratulations on an excellent web page and great cut aways …. Must have taken you so time to do all that work

Have you had any experience with this before Dave?

No sorry i have NOT removeda feul line before thta why i said i think its crimped to some supports insode


so why do u neeed to remove it ????


I am going to add 2 flex line to my Smoothie for fule injection SOON

Would there be any point in putting in a new line if the one in there seemingly works fine??
Could you use some kind of solvent to get rid of the deposits left in the line?

Mine was a 69 pan, I cant think of anything that could go wrong in pulling it out unless the vice grips slip and you smack yourself in the chin. The only reason I pulled it out is because the person who owned the car chopped it off at the exits and ran a rubber line through the cabin !!! so it was useless.

If you are running FI it makes a good return line.

I ran a 3/8 feed line through the tunnel with the body on, clamped it at the rear access and ran a split 3/8 rubber hose over it so there were no rattles !! Took a long time to do and was a PITA. There is a little bracket in front of the pedals that it needs to run under so as not to foul them.

Chewy: Theres not really any point to fitting a new line if your existing one is ok. I would think that the only reason would be if you needed more volume of fuel for hungry carbs.

You can get fuel line cleaners/conditioners off the shelf pretty easily. Do how do you know you have crap in your lines?

AdrianH I've sheathed my new solid line in flexible tubing to stop rattles too! Really tuff stuff so it will resist abrasion as well...

vw54 I've got a nice big hole cut in my tunnel by a previous owner, so I can see the bracket and drill it out if needs be... eerk

I'm going to have a go at it tomro. I'll take some pics so y'all can have a looksie

[Edited on 16-11-2004 by oval TOFU]

I just took out all the ancileries yesterday:
gearstick
coupling rod
handbrake pushrod
handbrake
heater knob
heater cables

I'll post some pics soon

rear view of the fuel line exiting from the left fork

Here, I've taken off the carpets and shifter. As you can see, the previous a owner was nice enough to cut an access hatch in the forward section of the tunnel...

[Edited on 18-11-2004 by oval TOFU]

after taking off the front access cover, this is what you see on an early beetle: the handbrake push rod. The bottom horizontal bar is the front lower torsion bar and the retaining nut

[Edited on 18-11-2004 by oval TOFU]

after removing the guide plate and retianer thing, it was easy to slide the pushrod out. I'm glad VW Werke designed holes in the body work for this very purpose!

view from front

you can see the shift rod in this pic. It's been turned on its side so it'll fit through the access hole in the frame head

out it comes! It was a pretty tight squeeze!

view of lines inside the tunnel from the gearstick hole

looking towards the rear from inside the tunnel

view from the shifter hole. note clip/clamp that holds the fuel line (the thin line)

view from the cutout in my tunnel, probably cut so it makes changing the clutch cable easier!

inside the tunnel looking forward

I'm going to have to slip a wire through the exsisting fuel line before I pull it out (the fuel line). The wire will act as a guide for the new line to be installed...

great pics chris, did you get much grease on your digicam?

hopefully you should be able to bend those tabs back which are holding the fuel line to the others, then slide it out.
if not then maybe you could run the new line through and wire it to the top of those other lines?