MTFCA Forum

Were gas lines always zinc plated from 1909? I have a NOS one that is, and an original one on my 1925 too.

Original Smith wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 09, 2022 3:13 pm

Were gas lines always zinc plated from 1909? I have a NOS one that is, and an original one on my 1925 too.

Wrench thrown.
Are you wanting to know the finish on the part as installed @ the factory or as a NOS replacement part found @ the dealership? Could be different?
Example: I bought a batch of NOS axles that came with a black finish all over, maybe parkerized or black oxide. The added finish to ensure the part was protected from the forces of nature.
Zinc plating would protect the line, but wouldnt necessarily be necessary on a factory installed part.

Not helpful, but John's comment reminded me of my old Mopar days, when the high rollers wanted "lunchpail" parts for their restorations instead of NOS dealer parts.

"Lunchpail" parts were parts installed at the factory that had been "liberated" in the lunchpails of the factory workers at the time the cars were being built. Sometimes they did not match the replacement parts that the dealer parts departments were stocked with.

This link is about the BUNDY TUBE http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company- ... n-history/
some highlights
--
The Bundy Corporation was founded as Harry Bundy and Company in Detroit, Michigan, in 1922 by Harry Warren Bundy, a former mechanic with Detroit Steel Products. Established as a manufacturer of steel tubes used in automobile gas lines, Bundy's first contract was to supply tubing for the Ford Model T. At first, Bundy simply sold the straight tubes to Ford whose workers then bent the product to conform to the Model T's chassis. During the initial bending process at Ford, however, the soldered seams of Bundy's tubes broke open, rendering them useless, and Bundy was forced to rethink his design or risk losing the contract. Bundy invented bending machines that could shape the tubes without bursting the seams. This early attempt at "adding value" transformed the auto industry supply business, and by 1923 Bundy had sold 3.5 million feet of tube, and Bundy tubes became the industry standard for automotive steel tubing.
--
In February 1929, Bundy's engineers invented the "Bundyweld" tube, a double-walled steel automotive tube that used brazed copper rather than solder to join the tubes' seams. The result was enhanced torsion and bending qualities, increased resistance to corrosion, and improved fatigue strength. Aided by the rapid development of new automotive applications for its tubing--including hydraulic brakes--Bundy's sales took off.
--
Couldn't find any info yet on prior years.

I believe the earlier brass fuel lines were tinned rather than zinc plated. I guess that could be considered plating.

Allan from down under.

Larry, the gas line on my 1910 is brass.

Sorry I can't help out with what they used in 1909.

I do have one factory drawings from Ford from the early 20's and a 1926 drawing that both state two possible materials which makes it even more difficult to just say one way was correct.

It says
"Seamless S brass tubing annealed or wrapped and sweated tubing from dead soft brass"
and also states
"Wrapped and sweated tubing must withstand 10 lbs. of air pressure without leaking after bending to shape"

What the drawing does not state though is if the seamless tubing was plated at all or just left as is. But I'm guessing if it would have been plated, they would have said so.

Larry can you tell if the fuel line you have is seamless and plated or does have a soldered seam in it?

slang250 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 09, 2022 8:14 pm

Sorry I can't help out with what they used in 1909.

I do have one factory drawings from Ford from the early 20's and a 1926 drawing that both state two possible materials which makes it even more difficult to just say one way was correct.

It says
"Seamless S brass tubing annealed or wrapped and sweated tubing from dead soft brass"
and also states
"Wrapped and sweated tubing must withstand 10 lbs. of air pressure without leaking after bending to shape"

What the drawing does not state though is if the seamless tubing was plated at all or just left as is. But I'm guessing if it would have been plated, they would have said so.

Larry can you tell if the fuel line you have is seamless and plated or does have a soldered seam in it?

Do you think Henry Ford would plate brass, that's more labor and material cost.

TRDxB2 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:22 pm

Do you think Henry Ford would plate brass, that's more labor and material cost.

I agree with you Frank. I do not think Ford would have paid for seamless brass tubing that was plated over.

I like how the link you provided also describes a wrapped style tube design as was printed on the Ford drawings.

I'm guessing the tubing Larry has is from a company like Bundy. They sealed up a seam in the tubing with solder. When coating it with solder they just coated the tube fully.

Larry-
I would suspect that tubing for the gasoline fuel lines would have been the same tubing used for the acetylene gas lines for the headlamps.
: ^ )
-Keith

KWTownsend wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 10, 2022 1:53 am

Larry-
I would suspect that tubing for the gasoline fuel lines would have been the same tubing used for the acetylene gas lines for the headlamps.
: ^ )
-Keith

Reasonable assumption. The Ford document mentioned above "It says
"Seamless S brass tubing annealed or wrapped and sweated tubing from dead soft brass"..."Wrapped and sweated tubing must withstand 10 lbs. of air pressure without leaking after bending to shape". So is this a reasonable specification for acetylene gas. Also does the drawing spec use the word gasolene, gasoline or just gas

I believe some years back, John Regan did some extensive research into fuel lines. Hopefully, I'm not misquoting him, but I believe his conclusion was that fuel lines were all brass.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/82 ... 1529336359