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Enclose oil and or coolant lines in cockpit???


djsteviec

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9.10.3.5. Any fuel, oil, or coolant lines (including Aeroquip steel

braided lines) (Effective 4/26/2019) that pass through the driving compartment must be metal or encased in continuous steel conduit or aluminum tube. (Flex- conduit is not acceptable. (Effective 4/26/2019) Lines wrapped in aluminum tape are not acceptable.)

 

Really?? I get the fuel, it ignites from vapor and the flame travels with it. Coolant/water is not flammable and oil needs fire or an extreme heat source, which is not in the cockpit!

 

I have had my Accusump on my passenger floor since I started racing in my old CR-X. The new car has the Accusump mounted on the tunnel and the line runs along the pass side tunnel and through the FW. How is this possibly a safety issue? On top of that, it is an electronic pressure valve control, so the oil is not getting hot and circulating through the engine.

 

There is no room to enclose it and no other series does this. I would be EC with the new car, but if the oil line needs to be enclosed, I guess I can no longer race in Champ. 😡

Edited by djsteviec
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Am I the only one who reads this and says "aeroquip is steel (METAL) braided lines, so they must be fine"?

 

Tech said in a different thread that when they say metal in this section they mean "solid metal tube", why doesn't the rule say "solid metal tube"?? It seems like every time ChampCar writes a rule, they get 95% of the way to writing a clear, sufficient rule. 

Edited by enginerd
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1 minute ago, enginerd said:

Am I the only one who reads this and says "aeroquip is steel braided lines, so they must be fine"?

 

Tech said in a different thread that when they say metal in this section they mean "solid metal tube", why doesn't the rule say "solid metal tube"?? It seems like every time ChampCar writes a rule, they get 95% of the way to writing a clear, sufficient rule. 

Aeroquip et al are good enough for just about every professional series out there.

Edited by mender
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I don’t disagree with the oil lines possibly being left out of this rule.    I’m not sure justifying it by highlighting a bad leaky fitting of the type they want covered up is the way to go.   What happens when that crappy fitting is the one at the accusump and all 3 quarts are dumped in the passenger compartment meant and the driver.      The irony is strong here to me   

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I've posted similar in a few threads now, but hopefully @Ray Franck or @Jay Mauney or @National Tech sees this and gives us some answers.

 

What is the end goal of this rule? Are we trying to keep something from cutting a good-condition braided stainless AN line or are we trying to prevent spray from an aged out/failed line? 

 

Putting pumps/filters/tanks/plastic/vinyl hoses, etc behind a bulkhead makes sense. Most of time if a line fails, it's at the fitting in my experience, so tuck those away. 

 

In terms of crush/cut or abrasion, a good condition AN line will do better than a hard pipe.  AN line also does better with vibration/boucing around (won't stress fatigue nearly as fast) and has some give in an accident.

 

I have heard of lines aging out (or people using the wrong kind of hose), and lines leaking/spraying/misting, but by putting it in a tube, now you don't see the leak and now you either have A) a big puddle under the car wherever that pipe happens to come out, probably near hot things or B ) a hard line full of fuel that you don't even know about. In terms of preventing spray, flex conduit, a fabric sleeve or even alu tape would prevent spray onto a driver and allow a team to find the leak faster. 

 

The rules are the rules, and we will build accordingly, but there's some kind of perceived threat here we either don't know of, aren't understanding, or this hasn't been thought through fully before launch. Vinyl fill hoses, fuel pumps, filters, buckets of fittings, that all make sense. Send and return lines though? Heater hoses? Not so much....

Edited by Wittenauer Racing
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1 hour ago, Wittenauer Racing said:

 

Yep, any car that has an analog pressure gauge or heater will probably fail.

 

1 hour ago, wvumtnbkr said:

Oh crap, I didn't think about my heater core!

 

2 minutes ago, Team Infiniti said:

1/8 in copper oil gauge line fails?

Yep.  Seems like some details need to be thought about and worked through.    

 

Its just not easy to right a rule that’s sort and actually works.  

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21 minutes ago, LuckyKid said:

The heater core thing is going to be a huge impact, right?  That'll eliminate most of the Spec cars, ECs from other series, ect.

 

I know alot of specs miatas have cages that make it really hard to remove the dash.

I bet at the end of the day it won't eliminate any cars.   It'll get worked out.     I sorta want to watch Jay or Ray get in our car far enough to see if there is a heater core and if its covered.

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My heater core was relocated about 1.5 feet.  It's in a battery box with a blower attached.  The lines are properly specd and well attached.  There is about 2 feet total of heater line in the passenger side of the car.  

 

I guess I could just get some big conduit and cover them.  They wouldnt really be water tight....

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I see this as some thing Mike and Jay and Ray missed so come on you three set it right here!!! 

I see the fuel stuff being covered but a steel braided oil line or a high pressure made up line needing to be recovered that,s way to far out there.  

We have way to many thing to fix like the fenders I had to go out and buy a English wheel to meet your fender rule.

www.DRVOLKS.com

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14 minutes ago, wvumtnbkr said:

Actually, I think you would need to enclose even the thin copper line in some metal too unless it is oem.

 

Maybe not.  I am confused now...  nevermind.

 

Hey wait, how about copper over the plastic line?  😀

 

course, then, how do I seal it to the gauge?

 

Not sure if I'm being sarcastic or not...

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