The tanks were temporarily re-installed, and I went to work bending fuel lines. Because I am using a factory GM fuel tank selector solenoid, I decided to mount it on the passenger side framerail and bring the right and left fuel lines to it. I installed new 1/4 NPT/3/8 inverted flare fittings in the tanks. Here is a shot of the driver's side fuel line, which follows the trailing arm crossmember over to the passenger's side. The line is clamped with Adel clamps and has air-gap clearance for the entire run. The lines do not touch adjacent metal at any point during their entire run. That's something I learned from all of my years in aerospace. A rubbing line WILL eventually rub a hole.
And a shot showing the route out of the passenger tank
Here is a shot of the solenoid and the filter. I built a filter bracket out of 1"x3" square tubing using a 1.5" hole saw. The filter locks in and gets secured with a hose clamp. I'm still in the mock-up stage so none of the lines are clamped. All of the rubber lines shown in the picture will be replaced with 3'8" fuel injection hose and F.I. line clamps.
The fuel line to the fuel pump eventually met up with the trans cooler lines, so I routed them together. I was going to make my own billet clamps to secure them, but I had a brainstorm to utilize spark plug wire separators instead. I found a set on ebay for $18 that were for a 9.5mm wire, and if you do the conversion, 9.5mm is almost exactly 3/8", so they worked perfectly. In order to make them work, I had to drill out the hole that secures the halves together to .250", and now, the bolt that holds the halves together is also the mount bolt. I made a couple of standoffs from some steel tubing to space the lines away from the frame. Here's a shot of the fuel and tranny cooler lines as they come up the frame rail and go over the front suspension crossmember. The trans lines are on the top, and the fuel line is on the bottom.
When the lines got to where the fuel pump is, I stopped the fuel line and continued the cooler lines to the front radiator crossmember.
I built a fuel line from the pump to the carb last night, but it was getting dark, and after looking at it this morning, I have a better route planned. That line is tricky to make because the serpentine brackets give you no access holes to sneak a line through.
On another note, I am always checking Craigslist for C10 stuff, and I found a guy selling a
brand new Early Classic hidden hitch for $75! I am running a '67-'72 fleetside rear bumper, and that's what this hitch is designed for. The receiver section sits behind the license plate, and you use a flip bracket and slide the hitch into it. I was going to buy a universal hitch and modify it, but this save me a TON of fab work. It's a really nice piece, and seriously heavy duty (heavy). The build quality is nice, like all of ECE's stuff.
I'm getting a lot of little things done, so that's a good thing. My helpers, on the other hand, are less than enthused. This little guy will stay with me under the truck for hours, even when I'm throwing sparks and using loud tools. A great shop dog. The other Pug is sneaky, and likes to sniff around places he's not supposed to be, knowing that I'm busy and can't watch him.
