Fuel Line Routing Without Pulling Motor

[RangerGhost169]

The previous owner of my car installed a fuel line that is draped over the fan shroud AND the hex bar linkage. He also installed a plastic fuel filter directly above the distributor. Big problem- needs to be redone ASAP.

I've seen the other posts regarding proper fuel line routing, but it seems as though most of the clean installs are done with the engine out.

Is there a way to route/mount the lines cleanly and safely with the engine IN the car? Motor is a 2017 with 48IDAs.

If you have any pictures that would be great!! Thanks for the help!!

[Rome]

The factory original engine tin that goes across the FRONT of the engine has a hole for the factory fuel pipe. It's located on the left side of the tin, to the left of the doghouse air outlet chute. You can see the hole in this photo (GDOG57 gallery)-

The original fuel pipe runs through that hole (protected by a grommet against chafing), runs straight rearward directly along the narrow side edge of the fan shroud, then curves inward along the fan shroud rear face and aims back at an angle towards the fuel pump inlet. There's a short section of rubber fuel hose which connects the end of the fuel pipe to the fuel pump. Here's a photo of the fuel pipe (germansupplyscott gallery)-

I've used this stock-style arrangement on many Type 1 engines with dual carbs, both single-throat and dual-throats; single-port or dual-port heads. I'm confident that you can route such a fuel pipe frontwards from the back of the engine, with the engine in place.

The fuel hoses going from the engine-mounted mechanical pump to the carbs depend on the carbs' configuration. On some of my engines there's a single hose going go to a "T" along the rear face of the fan shroud, and each leg of the T going to the left and right carb. On other engines- especially dual-throat carbs such as Weber IDFs or Dell'Orto DRLA the pump output hose goes to the left carb that has the dual-inlet fitting. The fuel to the other carb comes off that dual fitting, runs along the rear face of the shroud to the right carb. That right hose is held in place by the factory metal tabs for the wiring harness. Some people here such as Glenn run that hose for the right carb along the FRONT of the shroud, held in place with small plastic "P" clips that are screwed into the shroud just below the upper shroud flange. Makes for a visually cleaner hose run. When removing the carbs, you disconnect the two fuel hoses from the carbs and leave the hose on the engine. Glenn's current 2180 in his '74 Beetle also has 48 IDA.

If you have a spark plug wire holder for the fan shroud rear face that has 3 slots, use the upper 2 for your #3 & #4 plug wires. You can pop the fuel pipe into the bottom slot to hold it up away from the engine case. If you have an aftermarket fan shroud, it probably won't have the 3 holes for those plug wire holders. https://www.busdepot.com/113905451a

When you start work on your engine to reroute your fuel hoses, disconnect your battery for safety!