Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Like Bob said but I also put some small u shaped rubber molding material on the angles.

I used channeled cork

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Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

great idea. I wouldn't have thought of a hammer and cork. Thank you!

She is in! Thanks for the tips!

Should the fuel line that connects to the firewall passthrough fitting (on the cockpit side of firewall) be flexible fuel line, or can I use standard aluminum?

Either. I used aluminum when I reworked mine because it was easier for me to make a good 90 degree fit from the fuselage tank to the firewall that kept everything flowing downhill to the strainer. It originally had hose routed uphill to one side. Aluminum can be a pain because there isn’t much give so the fit needs to be almost perfect.

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Thorp T18
O-320-B3B (160 HP)
68x74 Sterba Propeller

"The joke in aviation is, 'If you want to make a million, you'd better start with £10m.' " -Bruce Dickinson

Ryan,
It's all about vibration when it comes to solid or flexible lines. Anything connecting to the engine itself should have some give as it's shaking on the engine mount. The tank is fixed as is the FW fitting so solid (aluminum) is fine.

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Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

perfect. thank you. I was worried about vibration, but I didn't have a feel for it in relation to the firewall and tank. Thanks again.

I am hoping some of you will post a photo of your fuel line routing from the fuel tank to the firewall. I need fresh ideas on how/where you mount your fuel filter and route the fuel line inside the cockpit. I'm not totally pleased with what I have come up with for mine.

There are a couple in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=8020&start=30

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Thorp T18
O-320-B3B (160 HP)
68x74 Sterba Propeller

"The joke in aviation is, 'If you want to make a million, you'd better start with £10m.' " -Bruce Dickinson

Those are good pics, thank you. I should have said in my original post, I am hoping to keep from routing the fuel lines any closer to the seats than necessary. In a perfect world, I would run the tank outlet directly to the firewall, but then I would have to put my fuel filter on the engine side of the firewall. That seems like a poor location to me.

Just make sure the line is down hill all the way from the tank to the gascolator. This with the plane in the three point attitude. The gascolator needs to be the lowest point in the system.

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Bob Highley
N711SH
SN 835
KLAL

I think most Thorp’s have the gascolator on the engine side of the firewall. As they tend to drip after a while, I think that is a good place for them. The only time I don’t like them there is with fuel injection. FI is much more sensitive to fuel heating issues than a carb. Therefore, any fuel lines/pumps/gascolators etc on the engine side not only should have fire sleeve, but think about routing away from heat sources and using heat shielding. Common sense stuff.
Cubes

Gascolator for sure on engine side of firewall for me. I may be complicating matters with my posts. I was just hoping to see a few pics of how people routed their fuel line from the tank to the firewall.

What isn’t really visible in the picture of mine is the J3 style shutoff valve between the aluminum line I made and the firewall. The bare aluminum is a piece of angle that spans the fuel tank mounts. I mounted the valve between the angle and the firewall and machined a saddle clamp to hold the cable housing to the angle.

Forward of the firewall is another aluminum 90 turning left to the gascolator. I fire sleeved a piece of Aeroquip 303 hose to connect the gascolator to the carb.

The only filters in mine are the fuel tank finger screen, the gascolator and the finger screen in the carb. I can’t think of any commercial built gas burning airplanes that run more than that.

_________________
Thorp T18
O-320-B3B (160 HP)
68x74 Sterba Propeller

"The joke in aviation is, 'If you want to make a million, you'd better start with £10m.' " -Bruce Dickinson