Fuel Line Fitting: Hairpin or Duck Bill Clip? (’85 F-150 EFI 5l dual tanks)

[Nemesis F150]

I hope you can feel it run.

This might, hopefully, be "Plan A"

And yes, fuel can run out. That has been a problem for me before. In one case I made a blank fitting by soldering it closed and put that in the supply line to stop the leak.

Plan B? Going this route the thought is about removing and plugging all the lines that go to the Fuel Selector "VALVE" (the drawings give it one name in one place and another name in the other place), then removing all the lines and removing the the valve. What an ordeal!

Mic'ed the two lines from the Pump/Sender unit and dimensions are as follows:

5/16 = 0.323"

3/8 = 0.375"

Note the old Starrett (now antique) micrometer (from my days as a machinist)

Would need to get some, probably, copper tube like you did. Haven't seen my torch in years ... eons? Maybe solder over the gas kitchen stove burner if its hot enough.

For a real temporary situation maybe one can use an appropriately sized drill bit.

Once this project gets started one needs to be prepared for various eventualities. You never can tell where things might lead.

Bucket brigades and containers for gallons of old gas anyone?

A funnel (one that works with an anti-siphon gas fill) and a vehicle or two with slightly empty tanks?

Uh, ... 911?

[Gary Lewis]

I hope you can feel it run.

This might, hopefully, be "Plan A"

And yes, fuel can run out. That has been a problem for me before. In one case I made a blank fitting by soldering it closed and put that in the supply line to stop the leak.

Plan B? Going this route the thought is about removing and plugging all the lines that go to the Fuel Selector "VALVE" (the drawings give it one name in one place and another name in the other place), then removing all the lines and removing the the valve. What an ordeal!

Mic'ed the two lines from the Pump/Sender unit and dimensions are as follows:

5/16 = 0.323"

3/8 = 0.375"

Note the old Starrett (now antique) micrometer (from my days as a machinist)

Would need to get some, probably, copper tube like you did. Haven't seen my torch in years ... eons? Maybe solder over the gas kitchen stove burner if its hot enough.

For a real temporary situation maybe one can use an appropriately sized drill bit.

Once this project gets started one needs to be prepared for various eventualities. You never can tell where things might lead.

Bucket brigades and containers for gallons of old gas anyone?

A funnel (one that works with an anti-siphon gas fill) and a vehicle or two with slightly empty tanks?

Uh, ... 911?

Nice mike. Mine say Mitutoyo, but then I have some inside mikes with Starrett on them.

I'd bet you can use a drill bit to stop the siphon flow. Good idea.

But have the fire extinguisher handy.

[Nemesis F150]

I hope you can feel it run.

This might, hopefully, be "Plan A"

And yes, fuel can run out. That has been a problem for me before. In one case I made a blank fitting by soldering it closed and put that in the supply line to stop the leak.

Plan B? Going this route the thought is about removing and plugging all the lines that go to the Fuel Selector "VALVE" (the drawings give it one name in one place and another name in the other place), then removing all the lines and removing the the valve. What an ordeal!

Mic'ed the two lines from the Pump/Sender unit and dimensions are as follows:

5/16 = 0.323"

3/8 = 0.375"

Note the old Starrett (now antique) micrometer (from my days as a machinist)

Would need to get some, probably, copper tube like you did. Haven't seen my torch in years ... eons? Maybe solder over the gas kitchen stove burner if its hot enough.

For a real temporary situation maybe one can use an appropriately sized drill bit.

Once this project gets started one needs to be prepared for various eventualities. You never can tell where things might lead.

Bucket brigades and containers for gallons of old gas anyone?

A funnel (one that works with an anti-siphon gas fill) and a vehicle or two with slightly empty tanks?

Uh, ... 911?

UPDATE: Siphoned most of the old gas out but couldn’t get it all out because the siphon hose couldn’t get past the tank anti-siphon entrance. Got the rear gas tank removed with a great deal of difficulty due to several reasons. (1) The bolts that hold the lower straps on were extremely difficult to remove even though I had sprayed Knoker-Loose on them. It appears that blue threadlocker was used on the threads (at the factory). Used a box wrench on the bolt inside the crossmemeber and a long 2-ft ratcheting breaker bar on the nut side, but due to the size of the bar the swing room was severely limited to only maybe 30 degrees, and there were a lot of threads! Took a while since there are four bolts. (2) Next up was disconnecting the fuel filler hose and the tank-side clamp was very difficult to reach; obviously easier before the bed is put on at the factory. (3) Reaching the connectors on the top of the tank was very difficult (ditto #2) even with the tank dropped down somewhat. (4) The [edit: lack of] clearance between the tank flanges (top and bottom weld seams) made it difficult to get the tank below the rear leaf-spring hangers.

Next up was the decision to install new fuel lines and we decided to opt 'not to' for now. The new fuel lines are very stiff and some of the original [factory] lines have very small bend radii, even only a couple inches! Due to the difficult tank removal process, and the fact that the existing fuel line has a some places with very tight bends, only a couple inches radius near the tank selector valve and maybe four inch radius near the fuel pump-gauge, it was decided to use the existing fuel lines for the time being [edit: wanted to keep the job moving forward].

Installation of the new tank was difficult due to obstructing and connecting fuel line and conductors. Used blue threadlocker on the hanger bolts, installed the tank in place past the leaf spring hanger obstructions, and attached the fuel filler hose (with difficulty on the tank-end clamp). Put in a few gallons of un-ethanol gas and went to start the engine. Sprayed some fuel in the throttle body and it would fire but not run. Even though the battery was charged up to float level, it couldn’t turn the engine over well enough so used the 30A charger and that really spun it. After some troubleshooting, one can hear a fuel pump or maybe two (good sign) and the engine finally really took off [edit: it liked good voltage and current]. Low mileage engine (edit: < 50K miles) sounded really good running at a fast clip during warmup.

Ahhhh, so sweet it is.

Next up: Runs great in the garage/driveway but the proof will be some road miles to make sure everything is running well. Need to check if the tank-switching Valve works okay. After that, the next job is the saddle tank. Not going to use the tank switch yet as the existing saddle tank has old fuel in it.

[Nemesis F150]

UPDATE: Siphoned most of the old gas out but couldn’t get it all out because the siphon hose couldn’t get past the tank anti-siphon entrance. Got the rear gas tank removed with a great deal of difficulty due to several reasons. (1) The bolts that hold the lower straps on were extremely difficult to remove even though I had sprayed Knoker-Loose on them. It appears that blue threadlocker was used on the threads (at the factory). Used a box wrench on the bolt inside the crossmemeber and a long 2-ft ratcheting breaker bar on the nut side, but due to the size of the bar the swing room was severely limited to only maybe 30 degrees, and there were a lot of threads! Took a while since there are four bolts. (2) Next up was disconnecting the fuel filler hose and the tank-side clamp was very difficult to reach; obviously easier before the bed is put on at the factory. (3) Reaching the connectors on the top of the tank was very difficult (ditto #2) even with the tank dropped down somewhat. (4) The [edit: lack of] clearance between the tank flanges (top and bottom weld seams) made it difficult to get the tank below the rear leaf-spring hangers.

Next up was the decision to install new fuel lines and we decided to opt 'not to' for now. The new fuel lines are very stiff and some of the original [factory] lines have very small bend radii, even only a couple inches! Due to the difficult tank removal process, and the fact that the existing fuel line has a some places with very tight bends, only a couple inches radius near the tank selector valve and maybe four inch radius near the fuel pump-gauge, it was decided to use the existing fuel lines for the time being [edit: wanted to keep the job moving forward].

Installation of the new tank was difficult due to obstructing and connecting fuel line and conductors. Used blue threadlocker on the hanger bolts, installed the tank in place past the leaf spring hanger obstructions, and attached the fuel filler hose (with difficulty on the tank-end clamp). Put in a few gallons of un-ethanol gas and went to start the engine. Sprayed some fuel in the throttle body and it would fire but not run. Even though the battery was charged up to float level, it couldn’t turn the engine over well enough so used the 30A charger and that really spun it. After some troubleshooting, one can hear a fuel pump or maybe two (good sign) and the engine finally really took off [edit: it liked good voltage and current]. Low mileage engine (edit:

Returned the new ‘special order’ hose to the parts store and even though they have a policy of ‘no returns for special orders’ the counter guy accepted it. Also fortunately, he was a participant in the original purchase (assisted the sales guy) and it was him that I gave the VIN number to. (Cost about $53 w/ sales tax, so good refund ... Whew!)

Got Non-ethanol gas and drove 30 miles with the new Midship tank. The gas gauge works but not correctly; even with nearly 8 gallons it reads just above Empty, and 6 gallons right on Empty, so the gas gauge problem will be the start of a new thread.

The problem with the Fuel Tank Gauges started last year before the tanks were replaced, so it isn't a result of the current work.

The good news is that both tanks have been replaced along with new Pump/Sender units.