It followed me home...

[Stray Catalyst]

Another day, another brake problem. Popped a line, the leak is right over the trans - so it's going to be a lot of creative swearing and bending to get the new line in place. Still, it's a few more problems off the list.

[Sneaks]

Just fought with a brake line on my Dodge today so I feel your pain...

[Daniel G]

I hate to rain on your parade, but you may need to do more to the gas tank than just hook the filler neck up. 72+ Buses have an elaborate fuel vapor recovery system that has several fuel lines on it. If you haven't replaced them they are most likely the cracked originals. It sucks to replace them and the kit with all the pieces precut runs about $100. But you run the risk of fire if you don't because gas will leak out if you overfill the tank or when going around curves. I have a '78 Westy I am gonna fix eventually and I had considered ditching all that and getting a vented cap. But I decided against it because that won't eliminate gas fumes getting in the bus when parked.

Here is more info...

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/FuelHoses.html

[Stray Catalyst]

Ick. Ignorance was bliss.

It's definitely leaking fuel when being filled. I'll get out the Bentley and do some more research. Thank you.

[fusername]

I don't know the year changes on the filler inside and out, but your leak during fill is probably the rubber boot right inside the filler hole, the one you can see when u pull the cap. group arund w/ your finger for the hole, the rubber ages poorly. this caused me a few wet feet untill i replaced it. not the easiest job, but not that hard either.

then there are one or two cloth ~50mm fuel lines that could be old and cracked, those are a pita to replace, but not horrible. the vent lines are a very good idea, don't buy the kit, just buy your own hose, i think you are capable of cutting it to length. I would do everything at once, and look at a diagram so you don't miss anything. there are 2 or 4 behind the firewall that houses the tank, that takes ~4 screws you can see from the engine compartment, and two well hidden ones you get at from under the bus. note i said SCREWS not BOLTS. the bolts you see under there are for the gas tank hold down straps, don't touch those if you don't have to or you risk snapping the rusty straps. the screws are fairly close to those bolts though.
then there are two or so lines in each 'snorkle' area on either side of the engine compartment.

decent diagram of MOST bus system from ratwell's site

item 1 is the thing i blame for your leak, 6 is annoying to replace, you pop the paint lid off the side, and take the gas tank firewall out, undo the clamps, put new hoses on, put the clamps on LOOSE and put it in place, then twist and tweek it to get everything aligned.

[Stray Catalyst]

I believe item 1 is the culprit - when I put the gas nozzle into the tank, it pushes the entire hose away from the bodywork, and that's the part that matches the closest. I'm not going to have a chance to poke at it today, I'm playing taxi driver for my carless son until fairly late, but I'll try to examine it more closely tomorrow. Thank you for the input!

[Stray Catalyst]

I have an amazing talent for making hardware round. It looks like the brake lines will be coming out with an abrasive wheel - every part I've tried to remove has either broken off or is as round as a marble now. I'm using the right size flare wrenches, but it doesn't seem t make a difference.

[fusername]

Always been my luck. I have mooved up in the world, new to me car from now on means all new brake lines. Wish i could find the right flaring tool, would save pkenty of money

[Stray Catalyst]

I have the flare tool, bending tool, and double-bubble metric flare tool - what I don't have is lots of spare time to replace all the lines. On the other hand, I have even less spare time to spend dealing with driving it without brakes - so I guess I have some evenings planned out for this. I'll hit CIP and buy the complete brake line kit, and the rubber lines.

[Sneaks]

I'd rather lay naked in fire ants than do brake work....

[fusername]

I'd rather lay naked in fire ants than do brake work....

Qft, once there is fluid in the lines, i hate everyone and everything, hence all for one

[ajdenette]

for full replacement I have had good luck with a good gravity blead then doing the cnventional 2 man blead to get things finished up the only issue I had was going from smaller ATE's on the syncro to the bigger Grlings that rubbed the inside of the rimmaking a horible scraping

[Stray Catalyst]

Well, I'm kind of limited on choices - each line I touch has failed, so I'm not going to just patch the one that's failed the most recently then go play in traffic with the SUVs. I've never replaced all the lines on a vehicle, though it's something I have to do for my other bus before it drives, too (though it's still not close to roadworthy, but that's one of the reasons why).

I have all the tools, I'll make CIP love me again, all it needs is a day of good weather and the span of attention to install everything.

And afterwards I'll probably agree with Sneaks all the more.

[Stray Catalyst]

I agree with Sneaks. Anybody got any spare fire ants?

I've replaced the two rear wheel cylinders, and am gradually replacing lines and hoses. I've also been working on the bodywork, and tinkering with other problems when I get tired of brakes and rust. Tonight it's likely to be too hot to stay inside, so I'll enjoy the shade under the westy and replace more lines.

[ajdenette]

Well not fire ants but out in the field at my parents house are some very nasty biting red ants.