VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Fuel Line

What type fuel line went from the fuel pump to the carb? The one on mine is copper but I had another engine and it was steel. Which is correct?

Steel

Thanks

I have seen more copper fuel lines between the fuel pump and the updraft carburetor on 1929 and 1930 Chevrolets than I have steel fuel lines. My 1930 still had the original fuel line in place and it was copper. Apparently both were used.

According to my research brass gasoline lines were used in vehicle production until sometime in 1929 or early 1930. They were susceptible to vibration cracking so were replaced in production by steel lines. Very few original brass lines survived. The steel lines were flat stock rolled into a tube and resistance welded so they have a visible seam. Were tin plated as were gas tanks. Have not verified copper gas lines were ever used on production Chevrolets. If someone can find documentation other than tubing sold through the parts distribution system then I might consider changing my opinion. The majority of brass and steel lines were replaced by copper when the original lines broke or leaked or were damaged. So the majority of older Chevrolets are found with copper lines.

What you say does sound logical. What documentation do you have to prove your theory? The few original 1929 and 1930 Chevrolets that I have seen had copper lines, not brass or steel. It would be great to have some original documentation from Chevrolet regarding the type or types of gas lines used in 1929 and 1930.

This could be a very interesting discussion.

The majority was from Lew Clark the 1929 Technical Adviser for 40+ years. It was based on finding vehicles with part of the original gas lines intact on Chevys into the 1929 model year. Neither of us had much experience with 1930 models. The low mileage 1919 FB that I owned still had intact brass gas lines. Because the vehicle only had 553 miles on it the brass lines survived. Another example, Bill Bradford, '27 TA, has a '27 Imperial Landau Sedan that had most of the brass line from the tank to vacuum tank (fuel pump). Lew had some '29 Chevys over the years with some of the brass lines. I have found a large number of '31 Chevys with the steel lines so am confident that they had those factory installed. I would have expected that the Engineering Features would have listed the change in fuel line material but it is not listed or discussed. So far have not found anything in Chevrolet literature to document the switch. Therefore, I don't know when the switch was made. Additional information is welcomed.

1933 Standard for sure has steel lines including the vacuum line from the dist. to the carb...Joe

The 1932 Chevrolet had steel lines as well.

It is hard to say when the switch was made because the few all original 1930 Chevrolets that I have seen had the copper fuel lines, not brass and not steel. My 1930 had the original copper line as well and it was definitely a factory bent line, not homemade. However, I have heard reports of other 1930 Chevrolets with steel lines, so it is possible that both types were used. One scenario might be early 1930 vs. late 1930, or maybe different factories used different types of fuel lines. We may never know for sure.

I am convinced that the copper gasoline lines are all replacement. Copper tubing is easily bent by hand so can be made to match the damaged brass very closely. They will look factory made if the fabricator is careful.

We will never know when the switch was made from brass to steel gasoline lines. Without a Service Letter, Service News or other Chevrolet document we must rely on observation and analysis. For now it appears to have occurred between sometime in 1929 and the start of 1931 production. 1931 is clearly steel as are the later years. It probably is best to allow both late '29 and '30 to be either brass or steel. Because of the cost for brass lines (and their susceptibility to stress cracking) it means that steel would be what is installed. I would suggest that it be accepted without point deduction particularly if it has the small lengthwise groove.