Fuel Line Broke While Driving

[glcaines]

I've been working on my new to me M151A2. I live on 40 acres in the North Georgia mountains surrounded by National Forest. I decided to try out my A2 by driving up a mountain trail on my property to see if the 4WD worked properly, and it did. I'm amazed at how well it runs and drives after sitting for decades. However, coming down the trail, I smelled gasoline and happened to notice that gas was dripping from the fuel line where it makes the 90 degree bend inside the vehicle. This is the main fuel line from the fuel pump to the tank. I stopped and checked that there wasn't any fuel leaking anywhere else, especially in the engine bay, and proceeded down the trail to my house. When I arrived, I shut the engine down and barely touched the fuel line where it was dripping, when it snapped completely apart. I took out my knife and removed the fabric sheath and saw what the problem was. The 90 degree bend was not done properly at the factory or else someone bent it and flattened the tubing in the bend at a later time. It actually looked like someone had bent the tubing way pas 90 degrees and then bent it back, maybe several times. Anyway, the problem was fractured steel tubing right in the middle of the 90 degree bend. The rest of the tubing is in good condition, at least from the outside. There was no sign of rust or corrosion, either internally or externally, where the break occurred. I cut out several inches of steel tubing from both ends at the break and am doing a simple temporary patch with rubber fuel line until I can bend a new 5/16 inch fuel line to replace the original or find a pre-bent original complete with the fabric covering. This could have been a very bad situation.

[raymond]

Both the tubing, the tools to bend it, as well as the tools to flare it are readily available at auto parts stores, amazon, etc.
The fabric loom is available from several classic car restoration companies.

If it were brake lines, I would tell you to leave the loom off the brake lines, as when I made new ones, the lines were most rusty where the loom was still intact.

[raymond]

P.S. glad the gasoline leak didn't turn into a disaster.
Always a good reason to carry a fire extinguisher in these old vehicles.

[m3a1]

...and a cellular phone