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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - SU Fuel Pump Hose Replacement

Hello:

I am just about to replace my original SU fuel pump and have a question (or two...) about replacing the inlet and outlet fuel hoses. The two short lines appear to be original steel braided hoses. I can see the current MOSS USA catalog shows part number #376-880 (outlet) and #376-915 (inlet). One hose is shorter than the other. However, both hose part numbers have a common footnote that indicates these both hoses fit "...thru 1971..."

My RWA is registered as a 1972 - so my question is: did the orientation of the SU pump change from 1971 onward? My pump has a horizontal alignment and appears to never have been removed from the vehicle based on the accumulated crud on the pump unit and/or around the mounting bracket area. The hoses lengths in the Moss catalog appear to be approximately the same as what is under the car. Therefore, can anyone across The Pond confirm that most (or all) SU pumps are mounted in a similar axis? Any ideas as to why Moss has that footnote?

I can always use standard black rubber fuel lines and just be done with it...but since it's Spring, I just wanted to "spruce" things up a bit...

Last item - is the quality of steel braided available from Moss decent quality? I think the only down side would be that the exterior steel braided lines may mask internal fuel leaks inside the rubber hose over time...But hey - just how much longer will my 40 year old car last? Possibly longer than ME...

Mike
Buffalo, NY



Mike Pelone

Use non braded hoses!
Cheaper
Better quality
Wears visible in stead of invisible
Onno K

Seven Enterprises sells stainless braided in many different lengths(the OEM stuff was just zinc plated steel, and as you can see in your photo that turns chalky quickly and red rust eventually also occurs).

I found it frustrating, trying to order a hose from Moss, or VB, or whomever because they often fail to mention the length, and got a few that were wrong, and sometimes provide zinc plated instead of stainless. None of them supply the one that goes from carb x carb. One of them lists one, but it is too short.

Seven Ent. was easy, I measure mine, and order that length from them, et voila.


Onno is right that normal fuel hose is cheaper, and works just as well. If the rubber inside of the SS wrap is the same quality as the non-braided, then there should be no down side (other than cost) to using SS braided, and it looks nicer.
Norm Kerr

pretty picture follows


Norm Kerr

I'm with Onno. I replaced my braided fuel hoses under the bonnet with the original type rubber ones as I just couldn't get one to stop leaking. I also once lost the use of the clutch when the braided hose to the slave cylinder frayed and a bit of the braiding made a hole through the clutch pipe. It's really no fun driving a Frogeye back through central London traffic with no clutch!
G Lazarus

Gary,

I once had the throttle cable on my frogeye break shortly before the destination, a pub. A local gardener provided some green gardening wire which was rigged as a temporary fix but routed under the back edge of the bonnet and over the windscreen as a hand throttle which made it very odd to drive the last few hundred yards up a slope into the carpark, but worked. Later after a pint and a few tools borrowed the standard cable was fixed and the drive home uneventful.
David Billington

Norm:

That looks to be a nice & clean installation on your car.
That is what I was after also. I did check out Seven Enterprises and found that they offer 6 basic hose lengths - of which two would be very good "proxies" based on the current Moss catalog offerings...

I would likely order the 7.5" and 11.5" lengths which appear to be an EXACT match.

Thanks for the web site referral:


http://www.7ent.com/products/stainless-steel-braided-rubber-fuel-hose-7-5-ggt0103.html

http://www.7ent.com/products/stainless-steel-braided-rubber-fuel-hose-10-ggt0104.html

All comments appreciated!

Mike
Buffalo, NY
Mike Pelone

I don,t think braided hoses work very well with standard hose clips, or jubilee clips. I prefer normal rubber hose designed for fuel injection cars, available anywhere.

Dave
Dave Barrow

This thread was discussed between 10/05/2012 and 11/05/2012

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