correct size fuel line for H coded 383 engine

[resq302]

I am in the process of replacing all of the fuel and brake lines with stainless steel ones from The Right Stuff. They have 3 different sized fuel lines for my 69 Charger. Which size fuel line would be correct for a 383 High Perf H coded engine? 5/16" or 3/8"?

Thanks for the help.

Brian

[beenaround]

5/16 but most people ungrade to the 3/8's as it won't hurt anything and if you ever drop a 440 in you will be all set.the 3/8 line was only used with 440's and hemi's.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

I wouldnt use the SS stuff though..... Hard to seal the brake lines.
Stick with the regular stuff.  My 36+ year old stuff looked pretty good when I changed it....

[694spdRT]

I wouldnt use the SS stuff though..... Hard to seal the brake lines.
Stick with the regular stuff.  My 36+ year old stuff looked pretty good when I changed it....

I have to agree on the stainless comment. I used the stainless lines and it was a real pain getting them to quit leaking. It looks good now but, for how I use the car the original steel would have done fine...oh well.

[8WHEELER]

Great,  ''note to self, send back the big $$ Stainless brakes lines'' ''and take them off the car they are on''

Never heard the problems with the brake lines before    have them on my blue car that is not on the road yet.
And bought the full set for my wife's gold Charger, are they that bad??

Dan

[694spdRT]

Dan,

When I first installed the Stainless lines I checked everything to make sure it was tight and began bleeding the lines. I had leaks everywhere but, the front lines were the worst. Nearly every fitting was dripping and I had to tighten some to the point I was afraid of stripping the treads or fitting right off.

It never really occurred to me the stainless was causing the problem until I heard a few comment on the same problem.  They did seal up eventually after several rounds of tightening.

[chargerbr549]

On the fuel line size issue i'm not 100 percent sure, but in 69 on the Charger the only engine that got a 3/8" body fuel line was the Hemi, the 440 got the 5/16" line with a 1/4" return line and it also had that funky vapor seperator similiar to the Hemi's and I think the 383 had the 5/16 line only with no return line and no vapor seperator and here's the weird thing the fuel tank sending unit was 3/8" on the Hemi and 440 only and 5/16" on the rest of the engines. My 69 R/T 440 came that way and they just used a rubber fuel line to connect the two different sized lines at the fuel tank,  I think in 70 that all changed where 440's and Hemi's both got the 3/8" body fuel line. I think they finally realized that the 5/16" line was way to small for a strong street motor.

[8WHEELER]

Dan,

When I first installed the Stainless lines I checked everything to make sure it was tight and began bleeding the lines. I had leaks everywhere but, the front lines were the worst. Nearly every fitting was dripping and I had to tighten some to the point I was afraid of stripping the treads or fitting right off.

It never really occurred to me the stainless was causing the problem until I heard a few comment on the same problem.  They did seal up eventually after several rounds of tightening.

OK Thanks, I will leave them on until I have two much trouble, they do look sweet.

Dan

[Chryco Psycho]

SS fuel ines are OK as there is hose at both ends , the brakelines can be tough to seal , the tube is Just too hard to bend & seal to the flare fittings

[resq302]

I installed the stainless brake lines and fuel lines on my 70 El Camino SS 396 and we had no problems with them.  Granted,  I tried the trick of tightening a bit then backing off and retightening again and so far so good.

[Steve P.]

We used SS lines in the power house for remote oiling and gauges to the console rooms. The one trick I know of is to seat the fittings wet. Then back them off and seat them again. We had very few leaks using this method. As far as bending goes,,,, the more you do---- the better you get at it.. I will tell you that some of the guys on the other shift made up some NEW four letter words trying to make pretty bends...     They thought they were going to make bends with their bare hands and fingers!! Hahahaha....   NOPE.....  The right tool for the job, period.....