jensend

It looks as though you have a cam angle sensor in your distributer’s place. Is that right and if so what brand unit? Thanks. Doug Jensen

Thanks! Here's a few pics of how it was until a few months ago. You don't know it, but I think we have at least a couple things in common. I decided to go with a stage 4 STD motor with Eiji at DSI. It's all finished now and sitting in his shop. But we're waiting on a crate from Japan full of SS exhaust goodies, and for a hot-off-the-press Jenvey manifold for their ITB's. I decided to really clean up the engine bay while I'm waiting for all the excitement to be ready. Compression ratio is 11.4:1, with LD28 and all his head and block work. I see that you just got a motor together with him as well. I was watching your recent thread with interest, learning what I could about various related. I see too that you appreciate the NSX

Yes, my understanding is that the ss is harder metal and has to be swaged to the existing seat. I'm not sure how they could have been that far off, with the 3D scanning they do and computerized bending machines. I halfway expected the long ones to be off a bit, but the short ones?! I need to call them and let them know of my experience and see what they say.

So, a little feedback from my experience with redoing all the hard lines in my '73 Z, except for the fuel vent line. I went with Classic Tube's stainless steel version of their pre bent lines rather than OEM steel. I had them send me an enlarged fuel return line (5/16th) rather than the stock size. I took a fine scotch Brite pad to them to shine them up and the end result to me looks awesome. They are just the look I was going for against the blue paint, which I had just repainted in the engine bay. For each connection, I tightened and loosened about 6 times each as recommended by Classic Tube, and each connection sealed nicely. Also, threads are 10mm, but the flare nut is a 7/16". I bought, just for the occasion, a nice Snap On flare nut wrench to do the job so I didn't round any corners during all the tightening and loosening. The connections worked well. They come with nice, solid flare nuts to work with. However! I found that the lines as shipped ONLY VAGUELY resembled my original lines and in no possible way would any of them (not even one of the shortest lines) just drop into the little retainers along their paths. All of them needed major manipulation in the form of unbending and rebending to get them to sit nicely in their respective grooves. It took several days of work and very sore hands to make them work out. And in some areas deep in the back of the chassis I barely got them to fit. If I didn't just happen to be an orthodontist where I bend wire for a living, they never would have worked and I would have been completely frustrated. Stainless steel is definitely harder, but not unbendable. My biggest complaint is that I halfway was expecting the lines to just drop right in. The other half of me was thinking that must be too good to be true. In my experience, a perfect fit as shipped was too good to be true. But I was able to make it work, and the end result, I think, is beautiful.

Would you mind revealing where you got the package of three seals for that job? Especially wondering about the inside the speedo cable knurled nut seal. Thanks Doug

Where did you get your various fuel tank vent hoses? Thanks

Ok, great. Thanks for your input, Jeff.

I'm going pre-bent. I'm just trying to decide whether to go SS or OEM.

Great, thanks. Did you have any trouble sealing the flares at each connection? My understanding is that you don't necessarily have to crank them super hard, you just have to tighten, then back them off, then tighten back down. Do that a few times to seat the fittings and its good. Is that your experience? Also, are the classic tube ss lines metric threads and wrench size, as in 10mm? Thanks for your input.

That's what I was thinking. Many manufacturers have been using stainless steel for a while now. To me, it's the possible problem of getting a good seal at each of the flares. Thanks for your input.

What are the odds of that happening on a driven-once-in-a-while for fun type situation after being installed brand new? Any other issues you can think of?

My intention is to either get OEM lines from classic tube, or stainless steel. As cool as those look on your car, I don't plan on bending my own. Anybody with experience with classic tube and using their stainless steel lines and whether stainless is too hard to deal with in terms of minor manipulation and sealing at all the flare nuts in the system?

Greetings all, I am replacing the hard fuel and brake lines front to back on my '73 Z for two reasons: They don't look as good as everything else which has been recently re-plated, and the flare nuts have all seen better days. All the hardware, brackets and so forth have been re-plated with clear silver zinc instead of finishing up with the gold zinc step. I like it because the car is blue and I have a blue and silver motif going on. I'd like to go with stainless steel hard brake and fuel lines all around for the looks number one, and two, corrosion resistance long term. Classictube.com who has been around many years makes hard lines either way--stainless or OEM. I have been advised to stay away from stainless steel because they are too hard to manipulate if need be, and because seating the connections is a bit more tedious. OEM hard lines will have a more dull steel look which won't look as cool but would be easier to bend. I know I could re-plate my lines, but again, most of the nuts are fried. Anybody out there experienced on this matter and willing to share their thoughts? I'm ready to go either way. Thanks, Doug