3/8 or 1/2"" fuel line for 500 horsepower??

[chargerfreak]

I'm just about ready to plumb the fuel cell for my Charger. I plan on building a 400 to 500 horsepower motor, probably supercharged, for this car. I was planning on using 3/8" fuel line, but a friend suggested going to 1/2", which would be a pain in the butt because all of my current accessories, ie. fuel filter, fuel pump, regulator, etc. are all 3/8". Any thoughts? Is 1/2" really neccessary or just plain overkill? I'd really like to stick with 3/8".
Thanx

[MoparMarcIdaho]

are you going to have on it?I have seen 2 4s starve out on factory stuff but a single 4 should work just fine.Tell him if he buys everything to do it you will get right on it.

[chargerfreak]

This car originally had a 318 so my understanding is that the existing fuel line is smaller than 3/8. Is there something smaller?

I'm not sure about how many carbs. I'm still trying to decide if I want to spend the extra $3000+ on the whole supercharger set-up. I guess as a compromise I could run the 1/2" to the fuel pump and then go 3/8 from there. Then I could size up everything else later if I was having fuel starvation problems. Whaddaya think?

[ehostler]

5/16 was stock on your car. 3/8 for NA is what you want.

[MoparMarcIdaho]

got to thinkin about that and 5/16 is stock so if your at 3/8 already that should work pretty good.might want to think about a fuel cell with a swingarm pickup for really hard launches.

[madmax2]

what pro and con to change by 1/2 line?

[sanborn]

If you are going to stay in the 400-500HP range, 3/8" ID fuel line should be fine. You really don't need to go larger until you get to the 600+HP and up range.

What a lot of people don't realize or pay attention to is the individual components of the fuel system. For example; are all the fuel line fittings 3/8" ID? Oftentimes, the fittings for a 3/8" fuel line are smaller ID than 3/8", like necked down to 5/16". This you need to avoid if at all possible. And avoid 90 degree fittings if possible- and if you must use 90 degree fittings, use "sweeping" 90 degree fittings as used with braided steel fittings.

Mount your electric pump as close to the fuel cell as possible and as low as possible. It would be good if you could use 1/2" fuel line/fittings from the cell to the pump---then use 3/8" from there to the carb. Why? The suction side needs more flow since it isn't pressurized(working on atmospheric pressure and gravity). Once the fuel gets pressurized, the line size can be smaller.

We can get into all sorts of discussions about the relative efficiency of cylinder heads(from a fuel efficiency standpoint). In short, stock type (but modified) cast iron heads aren't very fuel efficient, W2s are much better, real race heads(W8,9) are far more efficient. It has to do with combustion chamber size, shape, quench area, size, etc. You could write a book about that subject.

[chargerfreak]

Your comments are right in line with what I was thinking so I'm going to go with that. Thanks to everyone for their help. Now, back into the garage.