Chance of a fire too risky? Options

[macnichol]

Is it safe to try to start up my project with what I assume are original fuel lines? I won’t be driving anywhere, just want to see if it will turn over with the work I’ve done so far.

[horizontally-opposed]

Depends on how bad they are. Bend and flex them looking for cracks

^ This.

I've been worried about this at various times after reading 914 fire threads—which are always awful to read—and looking at the original plastic "hard" lines from the front of the car to the engine bay, now 47 years old and in use for 250,000 miles but garaged for most of its life. I've asked two very good mechanics who know Porsches, and 914s, to inspect the lines and both said the same thing: Don't change them, not even to the nice stainless lines available, because they're still clear, soft, and pliable—but we did cut the end off of one of them in the engine bay because its last inches were hard and crusty.

All other fuel lines were replaced during a six conversion, using the pretty cloth-covered file lines—which started leaking (a lot) in several places after just a few years. It was bad, too, as I could see the leaks with the car idling in my driveway (the smell was the first giveaway). Apparently, the supplier puts pretty cloth over sub-par rubber lines. Everything has since been replaced by CIS hose, which isn't as nice looking, but I'm told should last for a long, long time. I know what I'd rather have...