fuel line size and rear bump stops

What fuel line size are most guys running?  

I've always run 3/8" ID fuel lines on the ones I've built.  Thought that might be a better size for the dual carbs, but I think a lot of folks are running the usual 1/4" ID stuff up to 2,110cc's.  Beyond that displacement, 3/8" or larger is mandatory.

I am using a Facet six psi pump (like the old Bendix blue pump) and Mister Gasket regulator set at 2.5 psi for the Webers.  

That should be OK, except for the constant "clicking" of the facet pump.  

Also any onehave trouble with loud clanking if the rear bottoms out.

Yeah, Ricardo Baerga bottomed his out and punched a hole in the add-on sump.  It wasn't pretty, but he hit a bump/rock in the road.

I see there are no jounce stops or rubber cushions on the rear spring plates.  The shock mounts have a flat spot cast in them for the cushion to hit so I think the stock sping plates must have had a bracket for the cushion.

Not on the spring plates, but I think there's a lower stop as part of the hub and lower shock mount.  Mine are long gone, too, but I've never bottomed out that badly back there.

Gordon,  I changed the fuel tank pipe for a straight 1/4" hose barb and thought about boring it a little bit but there is only enough wall thickness to go to about .210.  There isn't enough room in there for even a 5/16 hose barb so how are you getting a 3/8 in the tank outlet?  I figured if the tank bung is that small it won't make much sense to upgrade the rest of the system.  I do wish they had used steel fuel line instead of copper.  It would have given me a little more i.d.  I need to find a picture of a stock swing axle spring plate to see what kind of cushion VW used.

Deep sumps are needed for big engines, but they can be a real pain.  I whacked mine a couple of years ago while driving through a potholed parking lot.  The hit wasn't hard enough to damage the sump, but it did loosen the drain bolt, and within a couple of hundred miles it fell off. Luckily, I had just come off the freeway and was driving along a secondary road and was able to pull off into a parking lot.

You would need to weld in a bigger bung in the tank. I really hope your fuel line is not actually copper. Copper does not deal with the vibration seen in a vehicle well at all. It will work-harden and crack.

The bump stop brackets are separate pieces that bolt on over top of the spring plate where the spring plate bolts to the axle tube. For example: http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_s...oduct_pID_154421.htm but finding some could be a little tough.

Mine has a larger 3/8" outlet on the tank. Cannot remember where I got it. Then 3/8" I.D. hose to a pre-filter and then the pump to 3/8" steel tube down the center tunnel. After the T in back to each carb it drops down to 5/16".

Personally, you need to check the fuel pressure with a gauge, doesn't really matter what the regulator says. I would run 3 to 3.5 pounds, not 2.5. I'd get rid of the Facet and buy a rotary self regulated pump. Mine is from Autozone and has ten years and 30K plus miles on it, all with 10% ethanol. About 50 quid today and available anywhere in the country.

I run a thin-line sump from CB Performance. Adds a quart and a half but doesn't hang lower than the frame on my Spyder. Not like those huge sumps......

Can't help you on rear suspension, my Vintage Spyder has custom trailing arms and coilovers. 

I got my fuel tank plumbed back in 1997 or 98 so this may be a little fuzzy, but the outlet pipe went through a 3/4"-1" washer which fit to the bung in the bottom of the tank, then a collar nut went over that with a fiber washer to seal everything up.  Plenty of room to weld a larger pipe and make everything fit.  

I have an aftermarket tank (after a "professional tank guy" screwed up my original tank and turned it to junk) so it may have had a different outlet bung than stock, I don't know.  

As to those fuel pressure  regulators, the guy who builds my engines hates them.  I am no expert but since he holds NHRA record in air cooled NA engines I think he knows of what he speaks.  He told me to buy a gauge and check  FP at front by tank and at back by tank every so often.

I am running a BugPack fuel pump thru 3/8inch copper.  Onl;y a little 1815 but it gets plenty of fuel to the big Dells I run.  It lays plenty of rubber in first and second and I have 8 inch wheels with 225.55. 15 shoes.  Hope this helps.

Well, I figured out the bump stops.  I'm missing the stock brackets that bolt to the hub.  Ordered two new ones and the bumpers from CSP, only $57 bucks shipped.  As for the fuel line, I am a little worried about the copper but it is siliconed heavily at both ends so it should be OK.  I'm going to put a fuel pressure guage in the line right before the carb tee so at least I can check the fuel pressure at idle.  I'll know if the line is too small if the car starts nosing over in 2nd or 3rd gear.  Its probably going to be OK, my 63 Plymouth only has a 5/16 line with a 426 in it and no electric pump and it doesn't have any problems.

The stock fuel line (and pump) have got guys (in beetles) into the 12's in the 1/4 mile, so unless you're making more than 170 or so hp I wouldn't worry about it. Now, if the line is partly plugged or rusty and you're going to replace it anyway that's a different story. 

Hey Danny P:

I went to autozone to look at pumps.  I do not like the noise of my Bugpack.  It shows a range up to albs.  There is nothing about it being self regulated.

http://www.autozone.com/autozo...ifier=191528_0_5752_

That looks like the same exact pump I have. When I bought it, the specs said 3 to 3.5 and self regulated, weird. I do like the fact that it is widely available, plus it was only $35 back then....

2.5.to 4.5 is probably ok, but I would still check it with a gauge.

I just ran across this photo of this old 356 racer.  Check out the "skid plate" under his deep sump:

I've thought about installing a skid plate, but it's not an easy task.  There isn't much to bolt the skid plate to.