at the moment my braided fuel line runs along the frame to about the front of my driver's side header, arches over it to the front of the intake before making a 90* turn to the carb. I'm thinking about running it up behind the engine, 'round behind the distributer before joining up with my Holley. I think it would look tidier that way. Any reason why this might be a dumb thing to do?
Thanks,
Jon

JSD MOD 28/03/09

 

Don't have to route your fuel line to your fuel pump first anyways, or do you have an electric pump?

 

im assumeing this was an aorigional FI car? so the fuel lines are running on the driverside? I have my lines running up over my bellhousing, which i think is what you want to do. Where is your regulator?

 

Running it behind the engine is going to expose it to more heat.

 

GM ran the fuel lines up over the bellhousing of the trans and past the distributor in several applications. The original 454 TBI engine in my truck is one example. It's a legit routing method.

 

Thanks for your replies guys.

GregsZ-28- Yes, I have an external electric pump at the tank.

86TA - No, I think my car was born with a carb. At any rate, the aftermarket fuel pump delivers a constant 6.5 psi so I 've never run a regulator and fuel lines do run up the drivers' side.

Five7 - More heat is one thing I was wondering about. Since the lines are within 4" of the exhaust from the Y-Pipe up to where it crosses over to the engine they are getting a fair bit of heat already. I thought that if I routed the line up at the point where the fire wall meets the front frame, up a few inches from the master cylinder and then along near the top of the fire wall. So I was hoping that I might actually save some heat exposure. However, this would mean going in behind the distributer. Putting fuel next to sparks seems like a bone-headed thing to do. But it is in a braided line....

Damon - I like this idea. If I crossed the fuel line over before the Y-Pipe the bell housing would be shielding it from the heat of the exhaust.

OK, it's well accepted that cooler air nets a performance benefit. But if I could save a couple of degrees in fuel temperature as well would there be any noticable difference in a street car?

Thanks again for your input,
Jon

 

You probably wouldn't notice any difference in performance from just a couple degrees difference.

Sliding a heat resistant sleeve over your fuel line wherever it is near a heat source will cool off your fuel a lot, though. You can feel the difference by putting your hand on the carb after the engine is warm.

 

Hmm...I didn't think you could make that much of a difference. Would that make an appreciable difference performance wise? I remember reading a post (by Five7 I think) where he would actually drain the fuel bowls between runs to get rid of the already heated fuel. But that is competition where every little bit counts.Actually I'd been wondering about trying to create a heat shield for my headers. My wife complains that her left foot gets hot. If I could come up with something the fuel line could run up behind it. Maybe in a sleeve as well. Food for thought...Jon

 

I haven't done that for years now. Didn't help much. Besides, I'm running E85 now, anyway, and it likes heat a little more.

My fuel line on the Camaro is fairly isolated from the exhaust and engine heat. The car was originally a V6 and had the fuel line come up the driver's side rail into the engine compartment. Since I'm running a mechanical pump, I ran the line on the front of the crossmember to get over to the pump. Stays cooler that way.

I know the factory ran the line over the bellhousing over to the other side to get to the pump. That doesn't mean it's the smartest thing to do.

Come to think about it, I have two of those stock lines in the garage. . .