copper.....fuel lines?!

[tattln]

Ok....I got my 75 coupe on Christmas Eve and since I live in Ohio, I didn't get to drive it. Now I've been running around in it and it's been great! Until Monday..I was doing about 60 when the car acted like it wasn't getting gas, lurchin' a little and then it would go and then lurch and finally stalled. I waited till it cooled down, fired her up and went a few more miles down the road. Got it home and changed the fuel pump because it wasn't in good shape to begin with. Now I'm leaking gas from the rearend and the car is doing the same thing..Plus when I got under it the original owner had put copper plumping parts to fix the fuel line. Could this be causeing all the problems and could the copper be dumping particles into my engine and creating major problems because it smokes out of the pipes now and did not before!? Help me please!!?? ThankX:confused

 

[Mako]

Brass fittings are perfectly acceptable. Copper fuel lines are way not acceptable.

If you really do have copper lines, that's a fuel fire waiting to happen.

You state your leaking gas from the "rear end", and then you state "the car is doing the same" which I don't quite understand.

Can you please clarify what you mean there and I'll do what I can to offer reasonable advice to help you out.

As to the smoke out of the exhaust pipes - what color is it? If it's black, the car is running way rich. White is coolant and greyish white is oil. Is the smoke coming out of both pipes or just one?

Thanks,
Mako

 

[Ken]

Wow, talk about serendipity! :L

I was just perusing my latest Summit catalog (just got it today as a matter-of-fact ) and happened across a fuel "cooler" (from Flex-a-lite) that "...features copper tubing, aluminum fins, and machined billet -6 AN fittings. Designed to work with high output pumps, it's made in the USA and backed by a one-year warranty."

According to this site: Chemical/Material Compatibility, there are no ill effects in using copper lines for fuel delivery.

By the way, I came across a product (new?) while I was at the Flex-a-lite site that might interest C3 owners--a 27" Electric Fan for 1969-1976 Corvettes:

Flex-a-lite has developed a new 27” electric fan for 1969-1976 Covette’s with 27 ½” radiators. The new 27” (Part #295) electric fan is a dual 13 1/2” fan that pulls 4600 cubic feet per minute, and eliminates the stock belt-driven fan and shroud. These electric fans improve horsepower & gas mileage, reduce fan noise, improve a/c output, and allow more control over the cooling parameters.

To read more about it, visit: http://www.flex-a-lite.com/Press/295vette.doc

_ken

 

[Mako]

Wow, talk about serendipity! :L

I was just perusing my latest Summit catalog (just got it today as a matter-of-fact ) and happened across a fuel "cooler"

Right, that's not a fuel line which is subject to stress cracks due to flexing and electrolytic anode corrosion. Static copper and brass parts are indeed a non-issue, agreed.

According to this site: Chemical/Material Compatibility, there are no ill effects in using copper lines for fuel delivery.

Agreed, it's not a solvent or fuel induced corrosion problem, it's the thin wall copper tubing does not hold up well, double so in a salt road environment.

By the way, I came across a product (new?) while I was at the Flex-a-lite site that might interest C3 owners--a 27" Electric Fan for 1969-1976 Corvettes:

Cool!

Tnx & CYa!
Mako

 

[silver 80]

I'm with you Mako, ditch the copper fuel line.

What he means is he replaced the fuel pump and it still stumbles and dies, and he noticed a fuel leak at the rear of the vette then noticed he had copper fuel lines.


tattln,
maybe your inline fuel filter is clogged it screws in the carb.

 

[tattln]

sorry for the confusion...I think faster than I type. Yes...the car still lurches and then stalls. The smoke is white which would be oil. The original owner built the 355 that's in it and was in a hurry and used questionable parts. Like the fact there is no fuel filter. When we replaced the the pump we put one on and it did not even start so the whole fuel line has to be replaced. Also the smoke just suddenly appeared with no reason. The old owner has a rough past and mentioned that he had the same problem when someone put something in his gas tank. Could this also be a possibility? I am doing a full body off resto this winter....I just have to make it to winter!!

 

[Mako]

Well, your not likely to like this much but....

Inspect the radiator for oil and pull the dipstick to look for milk shake. Sounds like a blown head gasket or possibly worse to me.

Pull all 8 plugs and inspect them as well, then finally do a compression check. I suspect that white smoke is water, not oil...

Good luck!
Mako
Been There, Done That

 

[JohnZ]

According to this site: Chemical/Material Compatibility, there are no ill effects in using copper lines for fuel delivery.
_ken

There aren't any chemical incompatibility issues, but there ARE metallurgical issues if the copper tubing is in an application where it's subject to vibration; that will cause copper to work-harden and eventually fracture. That's why C2 oil pressure gauge lines (which appear to be copper tubing) are actually copper-plated STEEL, not copper tubing.