MTFCA Forum

Gas lines supplied by Ford were brass. I've had NOS examples, and good used ones also. They are plated. My question is what is the plating? Is it tin or zinc, or something else?

My guess is they are tinned,as you would in preparation for soldering. What I have found on original lines is soft and easily worn through.

Allan from down under.

Another clue may be the acetylene hard lines. I doubt if two very different types of tubing would have been employed.

I remember when I finally replaced the original line on the 24 Coupe years ago I thought it was a steel line and looking at the pack nut end closely where it had been taken off countless times over the years. It had a yellowish color to it and I decided it was some type of brass or bronze and the silver color was worn off of it.
I since replaced it with a steel line.
Seems like I read that the lines were originally brass but the color wasn’t mentioned in the Ford archives. Maybe an older post??

You failed to specify what year and what gas lines you are talking about. Fuel line or acetylene?

All gas lines, and all years. I've never seen anything that isn't brass, for fuel or acetylene. All are plated. I have one I took off a 13or 14 radiator that is brass, and is plated. All I wish to know is what is the plating?

Every Dodge Brothers that I have had over the last 50+ years, all fuel tanks and lines were Terne plate. My sons Packards were/are the same way, Terne plate fuel tanks and lines (as well as other components). The Model A used a Terne plated gas tank and fuel lines as well. Mostly lead to tin, not as shiny as a straight tin plate. Terne is not a tin plate, but it does contain tin, somewhere in the 20-30 percent range. On my Dodge Brothers DA, I had to add the Terne plate to the new fuel lines using a 70-30 body lead. Basically tinning the whole line, heat and flux and then wipe with a rag. It looked a bit too shiny at first but dulled up pretty quick.

Wonder why they would have coated brass fuel lines ? They sure dont need rust protection. Was the original tube formed from sheet and needed to be soldered at the butt joint to be sealed ?

According to Bruce's C-D Encyl. the lines were brass tubing, and made in later years from a rolled sheet form, so likely the sweated on plating preformed the duty of sealing.

FUEL LINES
Fuel lines for all years were 1/4” o.d. by 3/16” i.d brass tubing. In later years a seamed and sweated tubing was allowed but it remained brass.
In the early years, when the sediment bulb was at one end of the tank, the length was 37-3/4 inches. In late 1911 the sediment bulb was moved to the center of the tank and the line was then 42-3/4 inches long for a short time and then changed to 40-3/4 inches long. The length was again changed about 1922 to 39-1/4 inches, and in 1926 to 39-3/8 inches.
These dimensions were for the standard chassis with the gas tank under the front seat. Sedans, some coupes, torpedo runabouts, trucks, and cars with vaporizer carburetors, and the 1926-27 models with the tank in the cowl used other lengths.

I wish John Regan would reply to this post. He knows a lot about this stuff!

Any tubing made up from a flat sheet of brass would require tinning and soldering. Steel tubing, seamless or rolled, would benefit from corrosion protection offered by tinning. I'd think a soldered, seamed tube would be very prone to seam failure from flexing and vibration, but apparently that was not the case.