Braided Hoses...... Who Needs Them?....

[Polecat]

I have a question about Braided Hoses on a 240.

It seems that most of the 240s that were stock had braided hoses only on the heater hoses, smog hoses, the brake vac hoses and the rad hoses. The rest including all the carb bypass hoses were regular rubber ones. Was this from the factory this way? or was EVERY hose under the hood braided?

Thanks! Polecat

[Arne]

When I bought my car in 2006, it still had all of its original hoses on it. On mine, the smog hoses were (and still are) rubber dipped, cloth-wrapped hoses. The fuel hoses were normal-looking rubber. All other hoses (including the manifold pre-heater hoses) were braid-covered.

Here's a shot of the engine compartment as it was when I bought it.

[bobc]

Arne, pretty sure the gasoline hoses were cloth braided from the factory too.

[Mike B]

Arne, pretty sure the gasoline hoses were cloth braided from the factory too.

Nope, Arne is right. None of the original fuel hoses were braided. Even though people that know better have sold braided fuel hose on ebay, it is not correct for a stock 240z. Here is a link to a previous fuel hose thread http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37065.

-Mike

Edited October 17, 2010 by Mike B

[Carl Beck]

A friend of mine and his wife owned #157 since 1970..today another friend has the car. #157 came originally with Braided Fuel Lines. Still has its 69 dated spark plug wires as well.

I'm pretty sure I have photo's of others as well..maybe some are more clear..

FWIW,

Carl B.

Edited October 17, 2010 by Carl Beck

[Stickerman]

The Roadsters had braided fuel line so it would make sense that some early Z cars had it also.

[bobc]

I could swear my 72 had braided lines on it. I remember removing them. (Ok, it was like 38 years ago!). My Vintage car used rubber lines without braids. I also went back and looked through my Datsun maintenance manual and found one picture of a rubber gas line in it. I went through all my other books and the best pictures I could find are inconclusive.

Bob

[Mike B]

Sorry guys, but I don't buy it. Here is a picture of Mark Lambert's 4,400 mile 1972 that was at Zcon this year and a picture of the low mileage orange 1972 from Seattle that sold on ebay recently.

Carl, #157 may have the original 1969 dated spark plug wires, but I wouldn't say its engine bay is completely original. It looks like the some of the emissions hoses have been removed and plugged, it is missing the decal for the radiator guard, it looks like the upper radiator hose has been replaced with a later rubber one, the coil is not original, and what is the orange house behind the engine (looks like it covers the speedometer cable?). Maybe the owner of #157 replaced the fuel hoses with the ones that were being sold on ebay?

-Mike

Edited October 18, 2010 by Mike B

[motorman7]

I think Arne's right. These are all original hoses on my '70 except for the radiator hose and the valve cover hose. The fuel and smog hoses are that funky rubber coated cloth stuff. It is amazing how well they withstand the heat and time. The hoses are still very pliable. These are also original plug wires with the '70 stamped on them, and original paint on the fan and air cleaner.

Edited October 18, 2010 by motorman7

[Inf]

I'm astounded that some of you guys are running the original 40 year old fuel lines. I replaced some of my fuel lines with new stuff from Napa less than 5 years ago, and I recently discovered some had started cracking from the inside out and were already leaking fuel. I guess I just figured that in that high temperature environment, normal fuel line rubber just breaks down within a few years...

FWIW, here is a picture of my 03/72 240Z when I took delivery of her in early 2003... Most of the fuel lines were braided, but I always assumed they had been replaced at some point (the car being 31 years old at the time...). The non-braided lines going from the fuel rail to the bowls were clearly new replacements.

[kats]

I think we can use a red car in this brochure as a good reference for its originality.

Also some Z books contains pictures from early days consumer reports and test drive reports,they looks same fuel hoses like the red car.

For me,the green car have a unique fuel hoses.

My 240Z has rubber hoses made by "YOKOHAMA GOMU(rubber)" now,

it has gloss rubber surface.

But seems to me, the red car has different type surface.It's surfece looks like a hose for air pump.

What do you think?

kats

[26th-Z]

Gotta go with Arne and Mike on this one. Go back to the thread Mike posted and look at the engine bay picture I posted. The fuel lines are not braided. I thought HLS30-00157 had been restored. The red "house" behind the transmission is a replacement (not original) speedometer cable.