How do you avoid kinking the fuel lines below the gas tank?

Now that I'm installing a new fuel pump, I thought it might be a good idea to be sure that the new SS fuel lines were not obstructed. So I poured a gallon of gas into the tank to confirm gas flow back to below the engine. No gas came out. I then put in about 5 gallons of gas and visually confirmed that the fuel was completely covering the sock. Still no flow. Ugh.

In retrospect, my old fuel pump may have been OK; it was just starved for fuel. (That's OK as a new fuel pump is probably a good idea anyway.)

So out with the fuel tank again. As I pulled the tank, I could see that the larger line was kinked. With the tank out, I blew air thru the lines; no obstruction.

So what is the secret?

Is there a standard length of hose between the tank and the SS lines? Once the tank is back in place, it's really hard to examine the hoses.

FYI I'm using the 5/16 and 3/8 fuel lines that Tangerine supplied (Gates Barricade MPI Fuel Injection hose).

Any advise is appreciated.

I have seen people put the lines in a loop. I tried it but was unsuccessful.

I ended up just making them just the right length. I mounted the hoses to the SS fuel lines in the body first, lowered in the tank and then cut them to length and attached them from the access hole under the car.

Good Luck !

Best method is to attach the lines after the tank is installed. This is easily done thru the access hole under the car.

yes make the other end of the fuel hose (tank side) on a loop hose position. And check while lowering the tank, the fuel hose will make the loop by itself. Did it 3x on 3 different cars and I all went well.

Yep... did this the other day..in 3/8" hose it took about 22" in a loop to span the 6" from the tank outlet to the SS line..

That's what I did. Just cut to length. Make sure the lines and tank ends are positioned as smooth as possible.

I make sure they are long enough to coil under the tank and then double check through the bottom access hole.

If needed you can move them around through the hole until they are kink-free ...

Another dumb question: I can see there's a hole down under the fuel tank toward the front of the car. Does one need to remove the panel (some kind of rock guard?) bolted to the bottom that partially covers the access hole? Looks like 4 bolts?

Yes. OK to take off and access under there.

I've used wire protector crap and tie wrapped it to the fuel line. This makes the fuel line more rigid and helps prevent it from kinking.

This is off a 75-76 so one line takes off under the tank to the filter/pump but you can see the coil Andy mentioned. As the tank is lowered the coil becomes a complete 360. This way you do it all from the top. Another trick is to "influence" coil by giving the hose a slight twist before you tighten the clamp.

Getting tank back in without kinking lines was a major PIA for me as well. One thing that helped was the harbor freight borescope / inspection cameras. It let me get a good look at the hoses before and after setting the tank in place.

The FWSM has the lengths of these two hoses, summarized here from my Tech Notebook page:

5/16" hose isn't much of a problem, but the 3/8" kinks pretty easily in a tight radius.
In places where there isn't room for a smooth bend I can offer a coil spring that fits over the Gates 3/8" hose and holds the round shape to prevent a kink.

Am I seeing this correctly? Did you angle the hard lines out of the tank towards the passenger side/rear of the car at about 45 degrees?

Success!

The tank is back in and the lines are clear. I confirmed this by blowing into both SS lines under the engine where they come out. I used the loop method and did not need to use the access hole down at the bottom of the tank.

FYI I used 22" of each hose to make the connection.

So now the new fuel pump and filter go in and then we'll see if it starts. Fingers crossed.

I used the loop method as well but zip tied them together to make sure the smaller line doesn.t kink.

I tried and tried and tried with the 30R9 fuel hose. Very stiff stuff. Very difficult to get to loop without kinking. I ended up tearing the entire car apart in my garage. I'll cross that "get the fuel lines in" problem again when I put the car back together.

Should also note that you may have it looped without a kink but once the fuel pump apply suction it may kink on you....so be aware of that. Ask me how I know.

Fuel pump and filter in. After some brief coughing and sputtering, she runs just like before this whole SS fuel line/new fuel pump adventure started.

Much thanks to the community for tolerating all my rookie questions.

Now another question: I'm thinking I should hold the fuel filter in a bracket and I fashioned one using some metal ducting strap. Here is where I'd like to put it:

Click to view attachment

I need to drill a small whole at the bottom of the strap to secure it with a sheet metal screw.

Is this a safe place to drill?

Yes.

,did mine the same way,position the tank fitting @ the right angle and it not an issue,good quality hose appears to kink less also as it has more reinforcing.