Fuel leak

[olympic]

I was out doig some G-Tech runs last night when suddenly I noticed the strong smell of gas inside the car.(I got a [email protected] BTW ) So I pull over and pop the hood to check it out. There was a small stream of gas coming from the return fuel line near the banjo spring coupler. It's not leaking from the coupler itself but closer to the intake near the elbow where the fuel line turns to go under the intake. I'm assuming that the steel line has cracked somehow.

My question is, has this happened to anyone else? Could engine movement put enough stress on this line to crack it? After the coulper, the line basically goes straight down to the rest of the steel gas line attached to the firewall. There's maybe 6" of plastic hose inbetween the steel parts. So I can see how there could be some stress transmitted but I would think the plastic part would kink or bend first.

Since this is the return line and it doesn't see the fuel pressure that the pressure line does, could I replace the hard plastic line with rubber fuel line? Would it hold up? Thanks for any help on this. It looks like I'll have to pull the intake to replace the inlet tube assembly.

 

[Denny]

Sorry I can't be of help, but. . [email protected]!?!?!?!??! eek! WOW! That's some mad speed in that lighter Topaz!!! AMAZING simply A M A Z I N G!!!! thumbs_u

 

[olympic]

Yeah, I was surprised too! I had a full tank of gas and I still have all the stereo stuff in the trunk. I nailed the lauch perfectly but the tranny is still shifting slow. Even if G-Techs read 4 mph faster than a track would that's still a 100mph trap speed which should be good for low 14's.

I'm just glad nothing caught on fire last night. The fuel was running straight down onto the y-pipe! eek!

 

[Denny]

But since you're lighter, wouldn't you be making speed faster than a car that would be heavier than you? Of course there are some things slowing you down, like slow shifting or launches, but you're certianly making up for it once you're rolling! WOW~!!

 

[olympic]

A cars trap speed is generally indicative of how much HP the car has. The ET shows how well you put that HP to the ground. Most SHO's I see running extremely low 15's are running in the low 90mph range through the traps. Check this thread for examples: http://www.shoforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=001062

So if I'm going 14.9@100mph through the traps, and someone else in relatively the same car/engine does 15.0@92 then that just says that I'm not putting the power to the ground properly. A 100mph trap speed with a SHO should yield 14.4-14.5 with a good driver. With slicks, maybe even 14.2.

I'm hesitant to try slicks for fear of breaking something but I think that's what it would take to get the best times out of the SHOpaz. Even with the quaife diff, the 215/50vr16 tires will break loose if I punch it anywhere in first gear or half of second gear. I launch around 2500rpm, feather the clutch a bit and then push the throttle to the floor slowly so it doesn't break loose.