Flying on the Cheap - Again

To All:

A fellow homebuilder spotted a female air-hose quick-connect fitting on
a fuel I'd just finished sloshing (riveted aluminum tank) and told me
he hadn't bothered to pressure-test his tank since it was gravity feed
and he figured just filling it up was enough of a test. He went on to
say that it hadn't leaked so I guess he was right.

I didn't bother to tell him the fitting wasn't there for the purpose of
pressure-testing.

Heat the end of your 2-ply fuel line in oil, you can push it onto a
female air-hose quick-connect fitting. Safety wire or even a
hose-clamp for the rich *******s, you got yourself a fuel-line fitting.


Why? Because it costs less than half a buck and works perfectly well.
Gettem from Harbor Freight. Three females and one male, plus a
quick-connect coupler. Wait for the sale, you can pick up the kit for
$1.79 (otherwise, it's about $3).

No big deal? Maybe not, if you got lots of money to waste.

Personally, I prefer aluminum tubing for fuel, vent & vacuum lines.
Old habits, etc. But if you have to squeeze ever nickle until the
buffalo farts, hose is makes pretty good sense. When properly
installed & supported, frequently inspected and periodically replaced,
hose can be made to serve for the plumbing in a minimum-cost,
VW-powered puddle jumper. Assuming you've got a drawer full of
fittings.

Back around Thanksgiving I reached in the drawer and came up empty and
the local auto-parts place wanted something like three bucks for ONE
1/4"-NPT to hose fitting, I needed four of them and they only had the
one in stock. I could turn them up on the lathe faster than they could
order them but on the way home I stopped by the Harbor Freight store in
Escondido and they had a whole bin of air-hose fittings on sale.
Bought a bunch. Worked fine.

They're cast brass rather than extruded. And only come in straights,
male or female. But a gravity-feed system doesn't see any pressure to
speak of and space isn't at a premium in this particular airframe so
straight works okay.

Yeah, it's outside the box. No, it isn't unsafe; not when properly
installed. And the proof is no farther away than testing it for
yourself.

-R.S.Hoover