I noticed that my original metal pipes in that area had some kind of tape
marking where the rubber pipes have to align on the metal pipe. Without
some kind of marking it is pretty hard to tell how far to slide the rubber on
to the metal. Slide on too far and the opposite end will come up short,
resulting in a possible leak.
Mark L
Theo.Smit@dynastream.com writes:
Last May, about a week after first getting my Tiger back together and
doing some road tests, I had to take it apart to rebuild the clutch
release bearing. So it was jacked up on all four corners and the front
crossmember and engine were out - i.e. it was really not movable in any
practical way.
I leave for work and noticed a bit of a gasoline smell in the garage. I
looked under the Tiger, expecting some drips from the disconnected fuel
line at the engine compartment, but didn't see anything there. So I go
to work. When I got home, the gas smell was a lot stronger, and the
source was now evident: I had a four-foot diameter puddle of gas under
the rear of the car and it was starting to migrate towards the garage
door. An epoxy-painted floor doesn't absorb much. I opened the trunk lid
and found that the entire rear valence had flooded with gasoline, and it
was seeping between the body seams into the trunk (wrecking the paint
and undercoat there) as well as into the space underneath each of the
fuel tanks. There was maybe a couple of liters of fuel pooled in the
back of the car, but the tanks were about half full and so there was
potential for a lot more.
Some investigation revealed that the hose connections between the fuel
tank and the crossover pipes had either slipped or else I'd installed
them off-center to begin with. The hose pieces were new and the tank
ends and pipes had been painted. Maybe that all contributed to the
slippage. Anyway, I backed off the hose clamps (unleashing another flood
of fuel) then repositioned the hoses and tightened the clamps. Cleaned
it all up with a bunch of kitty litter.
Not exactly a Pinto moment, but lots of potential for disaster anyway.
Make sure your hose clamps are tight after you replace those old hoses.
Theo
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