I am finishing up running my brake lines. I made my own since it was a lot cheaper and is fairly easy to do. Also I converted to front disc brakes and the master cylinder is in a different location which required some fabrication any ways. It isn't 100% perfect if your going for that, but I'm not. Functional and good is good enough.
Now I'm tackling the fuel line and soon the tranny too. This seems more complex. There are atleast 2 steel lines, 1 stainless, aluminum, rubber, and steel braided rubber. Each with different pros and cons. Rubber is out. Braided rubber is probably out unless someone can make the case for it. Stainless would be ideal but is more expensive, harder to bend, and flairing the ends might require a special flairing tool. My cheapie one probably won't cut it.
I am looking at the aluminum. Cheap and easy to bend. It should stand up to corrosion better. Anyone have any reasons I would not want to use aluminum for fuel lines? If not, I will probablly pick one of Earl's coated steel. They also have a copper hardline.
FYI, I was going to get a prebent line. They run around $60 or $99 for stainless. Not t0o bad. The problem is shipping. I've seen $70-$150 for shipping, and one place wouldn't give me shipping costs until I made the purchase. Wow. It is oversized, but it weighs nothing. Probably 3 lbs. Crazy
Thanks
Tom
I tried a '70 R/T 440 & total shipped was about $80 just for the fuel line
https://www.jegs.com/p/Right-Stuff/Right-Stuff-Fuel-Lines-and-Hardware/2344662/10002/-1
Aluminum fuel lines can be okay but people do have concerns with it's ability to handle vibration, it's a bit brittle from that aspect. It will also not double flare, if that's what you want, due to the same reasons.
Braided rubber is what I use and will continue to use. Very easy to work with and very durable. We use it on new Peterbilts..
So to answer my own question, in case. it helps anyone else:
It looks like a lot of people are leary of Aluminum's durability. Lots of folks on other forums don't trust it to debris on the road, modern crappy gas, and it being hardened over time which causes it to be brittle. Since it is softer some noted connections can be over tightened. Some people also noted it doesn't come on cars stock. Not sure if that comment included modern cars or just vintage.
Some of this probably isn't deserved. But perhaps some is.
I went with pre-bent steel lines from Inline Tube and they fit exactly how I needed them.