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Re: Copper Fuel Lines - Bad?

To: ctschmitz@CCGATE.HAC.COM
Subject: Re: Copper Fuel Lines - Bad?
From: Jeff Johnson <jguy@erinet.com>
Date: Wed, 08 Apr 1998 17:38:28 -0400
Cc: triumphs@Autox.Team.Net
References: <9803088920.AA892057882@CCGATE.HAC.COM>
Tom-
On to the questions;
1.Yes they use a special alloy.
2.I'm not a chemist, but what he's saying is that copper reacts with  the fuel
to form ,( at a faster rate), what most people call varnish.
3.No. It means gasoline.
4 Yes. I wouldn't want to be the guinea pig in determining how many tanks of
gas it takes to gum up the fuel system. BTW, I've never seen a copper fuel line
and I've seen the undersides of at least 40,000 cars.
Just my 2 pfennigs..


ctschmitz@CCGATE.HAC.COM wrote:

>      Hey Y'all -
>
>      I've just come back from 2 weeks of jury duty and it's taken 4 days to
>      get through the digests. There was a thread a week or so ago about
>      fuel lines (copper, rubber, steel). My apologies for resurrecting this
>      thread, but I have a concern that I didn't see addressed in that
>      thread.
>
>      I'm in the final stages of completion on my '70 Spit and installed a
>      copper fuel line that I fabricated from 1/4" copper tubing that came
>      from the local Orchard Supply Hardware, so you know that it is soft
>      copper intended for water plumbing use. About two weeks after I put it
>      in I came across the following bit of information which was nestled in
>      the "Brake Plumbing" article at the Dimebank Garage website.
>
>       ". . .little or no warning. (Copper also catalyzes the auto-oxidation
>      of fuel, the mechanism of sludge formation. Copper should never be in
>      contact with fuel.) The British have developed . . . ."
>
>      I haven't gotten to the point of filling the tank and firing the
>      engine up, but with today's reformulated fuels this comment kind of
>      scares me. The last thing I want in my car is something that is going
>      to clog up my SU's.
>
>      And now to the concise questions -
>
>      Vicky Brit sells copper fuel line kits. Do they use a special alloy
>      intended for use in fuel systems?
>
>      Are there any chemists out there who can explain the above
>      parenthetical quote?
>
>      In this context does "fuel" refer to racing fuel and not pump gas?
>
>      Do I really need to worry about this and yank the copper tubing and
>      install steel?
>
>      Thanks in advance!
>
>      Tom



Jeff Johnson
'76 TR6


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