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rmalone
11-10-2008, 09:00 PM
If a person were running new fuel lines per his STC and he had a choice of 3003 or 5052 fuel line material, which would work best? How much harder is the 5052 to work with :?:

Steve Pierce
11-10-2008, 10:13 PM
Rex, I use 5052-0 and form it with a tubing bender and the spring type bender that slips over the tubing. 3003 comes in a coil and is hard to get straight and is very soft.

Gilbert Pierce
11-10-2008, 10:23 PM
If you want nice looking lines, buy 5052 in straight pieces and form it like Steve says. The rolled up stuff you will never get to look professional.

taildraggerpilot
11-10-2008, 10:40 PM
I agree with all the above. I also used 5052-O and a tubing bender. A word to the wise, buy extra tubing. I scrapped a few pieces until I got the hang of it. It also helps if you bend some pieces at various angles with indicators that correspond with the marks on the bender. This will allow you to get perfect bends all the time and will allow you to line-up with other mating parts.

rmalone
11-11-2008, 05:30 PM
Thanks for the input. Just getting ready to spend more money. This project seems to be consuming it faster that I can make it. :D

Gilbert Pierce
11-11-2008, 08:24 PM
To prevent some of the problems Ben refers to, bend a piece of acetylene welding rod to fit where you want the line to run. Then use that as a guide to visualize how mount the line in the bender. Helped me reduce some waste.

taildraggerpilot
11-11-2008, 09:17 PM
To prevent some of the problems Ben refers to, bend a piece of acetylene welding rod to fit where you want the line to run. Then use that as a guide to visualize how mount the line in the bender. Helped me reduce some waste.

Good suggestion; I used that method also, but still took a little bit to get the hang of things. I was using steel welding rod, but it may have worked better if I used aluminum welding rod; something more malleable. Softer rod will also allow you to straighten it easier if you need to make any corrections. The welding rod/wire method is very helpful and does work. It just takes a bit of practice.

mike mcs repair
11-11-2008, 10:23 PM
Also the big advantage to the "hard" lines, is they(used to?) come anodized(like the blue fittings, just not colored anything), which helps protects them from corrosion....