Fuel Line advice needed

[JumbleDuck]

Coming from the days when cars were less common and being a poor student in the 1960's and 70's we had to learn how to fix out cars at zero cost. Don't know your vintage but RichardS is about the same vintage as myself.

Today it all throwaway and replace as RichardS described in his last post. This is encouraged by the manufactures who have to keep their "agents: happy by reducing the ability of the competent DIY'er to repair their own equipment themselves.

I hate throwing away stuff which is working or easily repairable - it just feels wrong. Sometimes this has irritating consequences - I have two IBM X31 Thinkpads knocking around which are in perfect working order but which with 1.4GHz single-core processors really aren't up to much modern software. I've replaced them for use, but can't bear to chuck them out.

On the bright side, yesterday evening I managed to get all the indicator lights on my Citroen DS dashboard working again. Took a lot of fiddling and parts from three spare ones ...

 

[PaulRainbow]

Quite right.

Coming from the days when cars were less common and being a poor student in the 1960's and 70's we had to learn how to fix out cars at zero cost. Don't know your vintage but RichardS is about the same vintage as myself.

Today it all throwaway and replace as RichardS described in his last post. This is encouraged by the manufactures who have to keep their "agents: happy by reducing the ability of the competent DIY'er to repair their own equipment themselves.

We are becoming a dying breed but I do enjoy fiddling and making things but I do understand that not all have the skills we have developed over the years.

I retrieved a Jabsco spot light from a guy who replaced it as the motors to up/down and port/starboard did not work. I stripped then down and cleaned then up and I how have a fully functioning spot light. Now all I need to do is find somewhere to fit it.

I think i may be a little younger than RichardS and yourself, i'll be 60 later this year. That said, i can relate to everything you say above. I was trained as a mechanic, not one of these modern day "technicians" and we had to actually fix things. It's harder to fix stuff these days, as not only are things designed not to be fixed but they won't sell you parts. Richards fan above is a perfect example of both.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I think i may be a little younger than RichardS and yourself, i'll be 60 later this year. That said, i can relate to everything you say above. I was trained as a mechanic, not one of these modern day "technicians" and we had to actually fix things. It's harder to fix stuff these days, as not only are things designed not to be fixed but they won't sell you parts. Richards fan above is a perfect example of both.

A friend of mine who ran a classic car restoration business was approached by a local FE college to help them run a course in repairing older cars. He signed up but was quickly disillusioned, because all they ever wanted to do was to fit new parts. Fine on a VW Golf, but they just didn't want to know about boring out and sleeving brake cylinders, for example, and weren't keen even on changing the seals in them.

Pah, kids today.

 

[doug748]

The return line from my BMC 2.2 litre 50 HP diesel is minute, I doubt if it is much bigger than 2 mm bore in parts. Seems to have been working OK for the past 45 years.

Yes. The supply on my 20hp Beta is 6mm, stepped up to the 8mm at the engine, as is the return. Beta were not thrilled at the idea but I did some research and found much larger engines which specified that arrangement. Job done, it works fine. I didn't give the support guy the 20 questions routine, it's not an easy job and they are busy.


The bleed off carries an awful lot of fuel but there is little pressure in there as it survived for a time with an intermediate length of very thin, flexible pvc tube held on with cable ties.