Rating the factory 240Z fuel vent hoses

As part of the slow refresh of my red '71 240Z I knew I needed to replace all the fuel hoses, especially the big ones that go to the expansion tank in the right rear quarter panel. I'd read all the instructions for saving money by using generic fuel-rated hose and inserting sleeves in them to keep them from kinking and such.

But since I am more than a little reluctant to pollute my red car's originality, and also because I really didn't feel like messing with bending and inserting sleeves, I decided to bite the bullet and buy factory hoses. As a side benefit, I figured I could advise others on whether this was as good an idea as it seemed to me at the time. So now that it is done, here are the part numbers I used, and my comments. I got mine at club discount from my local dealer, but your dealer may not offer that. So I included prices from NissanParts.cc for comparison. (Prices current as of 1 May 2007.)

• 17239-E4601, $27.15. Smaller diameter hose, runs from expansion tank to top right side of the fuel tank. About 3 feet long. Has a preformed double bend at the tank end. This hose is apparently actually correct for '73 240Z, but works OK on '70-72 cars as well. (Correct '70-72 hose is NLA.) The double bend is not quite the same as the one that was on my car, but once pulled into place seemed to work well. Arne's advice - RECOMMENDED, but not absolutely required - The preformed bends do help for this hose. You might be able to get by with generic for this one, but the bend at the tank end might kink some on generic hose. Since this one is affordable, I'd do it.
  
• 17235-E4601, $53.20. Large diameter hose with several preformed bends, including a 180 degree bend at the tank end. About 4 feet long. Goes from the expansion tank through the floor to the back of the fuel tank on the right side. Correct for '70-73, fits perfectly. Arne's advice - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - You need that 180 but would need to sleeve a generic hose to do it. The price of this hose is not that bad considering the three custom bends. Buy it.
  
• 17238-E4602, NLA as of 9/09. Large diameter horseshoe shaped hose, less than 2 feet long. Runs from expansion tank to fitting on filler neck. Correct for '70-73. Fits fine. Arne's advice - SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED, not absolutely required - You can do this one fairly easily with generic, especially if you used a slightly longer hose than normal so that the bend was gentle. And no that it's NLA, you'll probably have to...
  
• 17236-E4601, $88.43. Medium diameter long hose. About 6, maybe 7 feet long. No bends at all. Runs from left side of tank up through the floor, across and into the bottom of the expansion tank. Correct for '70-73. Fits fine. Arne's advice - NOT RECOMMENDED - Unless you are a fetishist about original parts, use generic here. This is the most expensive hose from Nissan, but it has NO preformed bends. So there's no advantage to the factory hose on this one.
  

I also used 18" of 3/16" ID fuel hose (return line), 18" of 5/16" ID fuel hose (fuel supply line), and 4 feet of 1/4" ID fuel hose (evap tank to flow valve line) to do all the other hoses there while the tank was out. In addition, I got replacement grommets and hose sealing sleeves from Banzai. The hose sleeves could be replaced with heat shrink, but I felt the real thing wasn't all that expensive. My grommets were still soft, but the replacement hose from the top of the expansion tank to the metal line that goes to the flow valve on the left front inner fender (the 4 feet of 1/4" hose) was a smaller external diameter than stock. One of the grommets I got from Banzai was apparently intended to deal with this difference and worked great at that spot.

Anyway, the deed is done. For myself, I'm not sorry that for the red car I bought the long one from Nissan, but for my yellow car I would not have bought that expensive one.

I think it worked, the garage does not have that faint gas odor tonight, so I'm happy.