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MG MGB Technical - Potential FIRE Hazard

This pertains specifically to rubber bumper MGBs' which have the fuel pump feed from the fuel sender. I had a very original 1980 B in the shop when the original hose decided on its own to start leaking (full tank of gas) The line actually split and crumbled in my hands needless to say the drama of a shop full of gas a virtually new car and only one person (myself) soaked in gasoline was intense.

If you have this line still on the car get it off it is a smooth vinyl type of line it was used on the feed to the pump, pump to solid line and solid line to carb as well as the canister in the trunk. This line is a danger. Had the leak developed 1 hour later I would have come back to my shop the next day with 10 gallons of fuel on the floor (if I was lucky) or a very big hole in the ground.

I am not sure if this was used on midgets or Spitfires but please check it out.

Joe Curto

NYC USA
joe curto

Thanks, Joe.

Tips like yours can save a lot of grief.

Don
Don

Joe

I have a 77BGT. Recently smelt fuel when I was driving the car. I stopped and looked under the bonnet bu t found nothing. Drove for another couple of hundred yards and still smelt it. Sopped and checked underneath. Fuel was poring out near the fuel tank. When I checked I found the output line from the fuel pump had split. It looks like it hadn't been changed since the car was built. My advice - change all the fuel hoses every 5 years. Whether they look like they need it or not.

Cheers, Ray
RM Taylor

I just replaced my fuel lines to & from the fuel pump on my 79 B.
They were is poor shape and there is no lip on the pipe fittings to help hold on the hoses. These hoses are now a regular check on my maintenance list.
M. E. WADDS

All Bs suffer this problem if the lines haven't been changed in a while. Dave Deutsch had a similar problem several weeks ago and I changed the less than perfect lines on my 66 soon after that.
Mike MaGee

One thing to look for on rubber hoses is that they can split both around their circumfrance as at a clamp or other joint, AND, they can also deteriorate such that they split open along their length. From the outside, these latter splits can look like and probably start as cracks, but eventually they crack all the way thru and leak. On the tank side they can both leak gas out and suck air in if ahead of the pump. On the pump output side they can simply leak or spray fuel if energized with pressure from the pump.

Not all rubber hoses I have encountered have rotted this way, but some have and like Joe's warning, I offer it as something to look out for. FWIW
Bob Muenchausen

This thread was discussed between 03/07/2004 and 06/07/2004

MG MGB Technical index

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