Hosing Around: Grandma Gets Russell Plumbing

Our Project Grandma isn’t the lightest girl in town – with a fat 555 cubic inch Edelbrock big block, and a full 25.5 roll cage, she’s got some extra weight that we can’t get rid of. When it came time to PLUMB our race car with hose and fittings, we knew that we wanted a lightweight solution that would still pass NHRA safety inspection. That led us to Russell’s New Pro Classic Hose.

Pro Classic is a reasonable priced performance hose that features a superlight lightweight nylon out braid, that can handle almost EVERY plumbing task on Grandma. And the best part – it’s ONLY a few more dollars than standard BRAIDED hose.

Any performance plumbing project starts with good research, and a good list. You’ll need to start by measuring the length of hose you are going to need for your build. Whether you are using Pro Classic for your fuel system, transmission lines, or oil cooler, you’ll need to estimate the quantity in feet of hose you’ll need. Make sure you provide a little leeway for bends around chassis or suspension components. Then of course, you’ll need to know what size hose you need. That all depends on your application and engine horsepower. Consult with your engine builder or Russell for recommendations.

We selected a combination of -12 and -10 Pro Classic for our 555 fuel system. Although that is slightly larger than we needed, we wanted to prepare for future power increases. Once you have your fitting lengths, then you’ll need to make detailed notes about your fitting requirements. Trace your fuel system, starting all the way at the fuel cell, with whether you need straight, 45-degree, or 90-degree fittings. Make a detailed list of every bend and connection you’ll need.

ProClassic hose is lighter and easier to assemble than traditional stainless steel braided hose. It features a lightweight nylon fiber outer braid over a durable rubber core with a maximum pressure rating of 350 psi. Capable of handling nearly every plumbing task on your car, ProClassic hose is compatible with fuel, oil and antifreeze.

You can check out the Russell site for a complete inventory of what they have available.



This is our list of all of the hoses and fittings that we chose for Grandma:

2 610023 -6 Hose Ends, Straight
9 610033 -8 Hose Ends, Straight
9 610043 -10 Hose End, Straight
3 610053 -12 Hose End, Straight
2 613103 -8 45-Degree Hose End
1 613113 -10 45-Degree
7 613173 -8 90 Deg Hose Ends
4 613183 -10 90-DEG Hose End
1 613193 -12 Hose End, 90 Deg
1 630313 -10 Pro Classic Hose (50 ft)
1 632063 -6 Pro Classic Hose (6 ft)
1 632123 -8 Pro Classic (10 ft)
1 632143 -8 Pro Classic (20 ft)
1 632223 -12 Pro Classic (10 ft)
1 650380 Billet Aluminum Y-Block w/1/2 Ports
1 660463 -6 to 3/8 NPT
6 660483 -8 3/8 NPT
2 660493 -8 to 1/2
1 660503 -10 to 1/2
2 661201 -10 Bulkhead
1 661261 -8 90-Deg Male Bulkhead
1 661903 -8 Bulkhead Nut
4 661911 Bulkhead Nuts -10
1 662053 3/8 Pipe Plug
1 670033 -10 to 3/8 NPT
1 670353 Fuel Presure Take Off -8
1 670360 Fuel Pressure Take Off – 10
2 670730 -12 AN- O-ring to AN-12 Male
1 670870 Fuel Cell Bulkhead -10
1 670880 Fuel Cell Bulkhead -12

One thing that you should defintely utilize is BULKHEAD fittings to go between areas like the floor of Grandma. Many racers cut a large hole and run the fuel line through. Not only does this look poor, but it makes removal and maintenance of the vehicle difficult. Use bulkhead fittings like this one here, with two additional hose ends, for a clean look and easy removal.

Assembly

Once we recieved all the Pro Classic in our order, we began the process of assembly. Starting at the back of the car and working forward, we began the process of assembling the hose and fittings.

Cutting Pro Classic hose is simple and easy, you can do it with a nice pair of shears. Then, install the hose end into vise and install the hose. Apply some assembly lube, and begin to thread in the fitting. Once you’re done, make sure to blow the assembly out with solvent and then blow clean.


We used soft jaws to avoid scratching our Pro Classic Fittings.

Plumbing Grandma took about one entire day from start to finish, even including the fact that we had two entire fuel systems, one for the motor, and one for the nitrous.

Follow along as we take you through the installation step by step.

First we installed our Chiseled Performance fuel cell. This fuel cell was made already with a water tank to go along with the gas tank. This is future flexibility for us should we go with forced induction in the future.

 

Next we mocked up our fuel system on the ground. We would be using an Edelbrock 120 GPH EFI Pump, an Edelbrock carb-style fuel pump for use with nitrous, along with two pairs of Aeromotive fuel filters, #12302 Pro-Series -12 100 Micron and a #12310 Pro Series 10 Micron.

As such, we ended up also using some Aeromotive AN-10 and AN-12 Unions and Flare Adapters to hook up the filters and pumps to each other.

The Aeromotive and Edelbrock parts were mated together using -12 AN unions. We mounted them behind the fuel cell as seen here.



Once plumbed, you can see how we ran the Russell Pro Classic around the corner of the fuel cell.

 

Using bulkhead fittings, we ran both fuel systems through the trunk floor (along with the trans-cooler lines) so that we could remove the fuel system quickly and easily from either side of the trunk for easy maintenance.

Working to stay away from the suspension and rear end, we ran the Pro Classic over the upper control arm cradle, into the side of the outer frame of the Malibu. We ran it the length of the car and up to the Firewall.

Here is another shot of the bulkhead fittings from the top side of the roll cage and trunk area.

At the front of the car, we ran a Russell Y-Block fitting to split the -10 line into twin -8 lines that we will run into each side of the frame rails.

Next, it was time to connect up the 1/2-inch Edelbrock/Russell fuel rails that came factory equipped on the Musi/Edelbrock 555ci engine. We used Russell 45-degree -8 fittings on each side of the fuel rails for a good fit.

Finally, after running through both Edelbrock fuel rails, we ran twin -8 retuns out of the rails into the Aeromotive return-style EFI regulator. We originally planned to use the EFI regulator Edelbrock provided with the 555ci, but it was not setup to use twin-return feeds. Aeromotive provided this boost-index/vacuum-indexed regulator which is rated to over 2,000 horsepower.

Russell provided us with some very trick 1/8-inch NPT adapter -8 hose ends that allowed us to tap in our Auto Meter fuel sweep fuel pressure sendors. Nice.

After checking everything twice (three times) and fixing a few tiny leaks, we retorqued all of the fittings, and were ready to go. At this point, we were only a few weeks away from testing Project Grandma, and we were very happy with how smooth the plumbing was thanks to Russell and Aeromotive.

About the author

Kevin Shaw

Kevin Shaw is a self-proclaimed "muscle car purist," preferring solid-lifter camshafts and mechanical double-pumpers over computer-controlled fuel injection and force-feeding power-adders. If you like dirt-under-your-fingernails tech and real street driven content, this is your guy.
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