Corroded Fuel Pipe / Line

[ea6driver]

Cleaning/refurbing the engine bay.  As expected, the area under the battery has the most corrosion, including the fuel and brake lines/brackets that run in that area.  Well, while disassembling everything one of the fuel lines was corroded so bad that it snapped in half.  The corroded area of the snapped line/pipe runs for several inches.  I'm looking for some good ideas on the best way repair this.

The line in question is the fuel return line that runs from the fuel pressure regulator on the fuel rail back to the fuel tank.

Any and all ideas are welcome...I'm really hoping there is an effective repair option short of replacing the entire pipe all the way to the back of the car.

 

[grannyknot]

I would cut back to fresh unrotted metal on either side of the line and bridge it with flex fuel line with double fuel injection clamps on either side, that will get you back on the road safely while you decide what to do.

[ea6driver]

I like the idea of cutting the existing tubing back to unrotted metal at both sides.  Figured that would be the first step.  However, I was hoping for an option that allowed me to continue using the original fuel tubing brackets.  The problem I see there is that there is very little clearance separating the 3 pipes in the brackets...so any fitting connecting the original pipe to the replacement one would have to be a very slim profile.  I'm not too worried about the time factor as this is just one more problem of many I'm encountering with the engine bay restoration (maybe I posted this in the wrong forum....sorry for that...).   

Just wondering...is fuel pressure an issue here?  I'm thinking that the fuel returning to the tank from the fuel pressure regulator can't be under too much pressure...thereby allowing for a repair that didn't need to hold up under fuel pressure.

[grannyknot]

Not much resistance in the return line even with the fuel injected Z's but 2 clamps on either connection should give a wide safety margin.

[ea6driver]

Found this.  Was thinking that, along with "steel to nylon" compression fittings on each end, this repair would allow for an effective and tidy repair that would still allow me to use the original fuel line brackets.

[ea6driver]

I thought I'd post an update to the "fix" I came up with for this problem.  I ordered some nylon fuel line and "steel to nylon" compression fittings, cut out the corroded original piping, and installed the flex line with a compression fitting at each end.  For perspective, the photo is taken from under the car looking up toward the underside of the battery tray (which you can see in the top of the photo).  I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to come up with a fix that allowed me to route the new line through the old bracket, but there just wasn't much room to work with under there.  Hoping this will be safe and functional for the type of driving I do (once/month, sunny days, within the speed limit).

[Freez74]

Should work fine, where did you get the fuel tubing?

[ea6driver]

I bought it off Amazon from a supplier named The Stop Shop.  12' roll of 8mm OD nylon line for $17.  Compression fittings were Dorman part number 800-222 Fuel Line Compression Union 5/16" (pack of 5) for $16.50.

[Freez74]

On 5/18/2020 at 10:49 AM, ea6driver said:

I bought it off Amazon from a supplier named The Stop Shop.  12' roll of 8mm OD nylon line for $17.  Compression fittings were Dorman part number 800-222 Fuel Line Compression Union 5/16" (pack of 5) for $16.50.

Thanks!  I've been looking for something like that.