Odd solution to Vapor Lock

I was told by an old timer down the street that if I wanted to clear an issue with vapor lock to put wooden clothes pins on my metal fuel line....
any truth to this myth?

 

That was a common 'remedy' for years, although I've never had anyone able to prove that it actually works. Wood does not make a good conductor of heat, that's for sure.

---John

 

Dont know if it works, but it sure is ugly. I saw an old 6 cylinder once that had at least a dozen on the fuel line.

 

Christ...I need some HAMB know how here...Seems like an odd solution to me but this old timer swore by it...
There HAS to be at least one mechanical engineer or someone who can debunk this urban legend.

 

By the time it took him to hang his laundry on the fuel line, the condensor had time to cool off and re-start...

 

I always carried a cooler with ice in it when my VW would lock up!

 

it works because it helps displace the heat. i have done it numerous times and the old boy ain't pulling our leg about it, make sure you thank him for the tip.

 

I bought an old Chevy pickup in Alabama years ago and it had wooden clothes pins on some of the spark plug wires. I was told this helped the spark. Who knows?

 

Now see, I drove vw bugs a 71 and a 59...for years and ever locked up... I went to school in Southern Illinois and grew up in Chicago...I did that I-57 stretch too many times.. Even in August and July..... Even dated a girl in Bloomington and did that run every weekend...I was running an 1835 with dual webers.... my 53 buick was gettin real ornery the other day and just lockin up...I'd let her cool off and then she'd fire right up..

 

ok 55 dude, why does it work? Does the wood absorb heat or what?
Not tryin to be a ****...honestly I want to learn

 

Had an OT car that had a big engine in a narrow/closed engine compartment. We tried every suggestion to get it to stop vapor locking.

Clothes pins - no luck
Tin foil wrapped around the lines - no luck
AC line foam insulation around the lines - no luck
Fuel filter with a return line back to the tank to keep a small amount of fuel circulating - no luck

Finally found a spot where the line ran really close to the ******, moved the line and fixed it 95% of the time. Check your line routing.

SPark

 

Uncle Max, I was thinking the exact same thing

 

This is a bone stock buick...I was told that our new gas is **** and causes this kinda stuff all the time..

 

i have heard if you wrap aluminum foil around rubber fuel line then put a wood clothes pin on that it would help with vapor lock (my uncles 69 roadrunner ran like this for years)

but ive never heard putting a clothes pinm on metal line

 

WELL,,i'm an Old Fart ,,,67 years young ,,back in the '50's n '60's ,,in the heat of Iowa summers ,,,vaper lock was pretty common ,,YES ,,we used wooden clothes pins ,,the spring loaded kind ,,on the fuel lines that ran close to the exhaust pipes n mufflers ,.,,left em on the all summer ,,,never got vaper lock again ,,werks like MAGIC !! ,,
that Old Guy was tellin' the truth ,,i got the idea from my grandfather ,,he did it for his model T's & A's
of co**** ,,you could just relocate your fuel lines away from the heat of the exhaust pipes ,,

 

Any possibility that the pressure from the clothes pin on the fuel line caused the line to compress just that little bit would be enough to prevent it from happening? Just throwing ideas out there.

 

You need to keep the heat from getting to the fuel. The only way I can think the clothes pins would work would either by a) working as a heat sink to dissipate the heat like the cooling fins on a small engine which I don't see working due to the low heat transfer properties of wood unless the spring is absorbing the heat and dissipating it thru the coil or b) the clotches pins keep the fuel line a sufficient distance away from the heat source. Tin foil probably works in applications where there's just enough heat that it can reflect it but not so much that it winds up fully saturated with the heat that it doesn't do anything. Distance is your best friend but in cases where you can't get it your best bet is something that reflects AND insulates.

 

Looked a a bone stock 40 coupe today and it had a dozen pins on the fuel ilne. Worked on my 52 back in 62. Pins don't collaspe the line. Lines were steel are copper........

 

Nevermind, was thinking rubber lines for a moment. Still an odd fix.

 

Used to do it all the time on a '59 Galaxie I had - worked good, but I don't know why.

 

I heard about this trick from my dad. A buddy of mine does it just to make the old timers smile when they see his engine bay.

 

Sounds like a challenge for MythBusters!

 

Mythbusters episode, send it in.....

 

Works on my friends straight 8

 

I was taught to soak them in water first, and to re-soak them on a regular basis.

The moisture in the wood acts as a heat sink, and cools as it evaporates, which it does, as fuel approaches the vapor point.