I have at most 1.5 inchs of exposed rubber on the inside. The tubing I used was marine grade heavy duty fuel filler hose. Maybe a lighter grade hose would have thinner wire? But the stuff I used is very difficult to bend, and the wire inside it is at least 1/16 of an inch, more like 1 mm. Its quite thick wire. I cannot cut it with a diagonal cutter, I have to trim the wire with the dremel. That and I was told I likely over-torqued it in the attempt to get it to seal. I would record a video, but I have already pulled the carb/plenum assembly to mount the new hose. That and I am putting a thick coat of varnish on the exposed plywood on my adapter.
When I have more resources, I will replace the wood with a nice piece of machined aluminum or steel. But that portion is sealed for now, so not going to mess with it. I am using the radiator hose. Where the rubber is exposed will not have pooled gas in it, just a passing vapor stream, and like I said, the longest piece will have about one inch of exposed rubber on the inside.
But after playing with the leftovers, if you bend this tubing too far the wire definitely rips through the outer and inner rubber, so maybe it was the bend that caused the issue too? but it definitely whistled. The wire tears through the outside on the outside of the bend, and it is forced through the inner liner on the inside of the bend. It just seems like the stuff I have is designed to bend in terms of feet, not inches.
I was telling my stepdad about the use of the plywood, and he was not surprised at all. He said on the farm they used to use wood and leather for a lot of mechanical patches and gaskets. Cheap, plentiful, and relatively easy to cut or form.
What thickness of leather did you use Joe? I have this old jacket from the 80's that I dont think Michael Jackson would wear that would be an ideal candidate for gasket material if its think enough. It is a bomber style jacket, but I dont know what was going through my brain when I had it made. I got it in Spain when Iwas overseas in the Army. Leather was DIRT cheap there back than.
