<<Seeing that plastic tubing running through the jumble of wires behind the
panel just gives me the willies!>>

As it should, IMHO.  In the early days of automotive fuel injection some
cars were built with ordinary nylon tubing for fuel.  There were a number of
car fires that were traced to the non-conductive tubing.  A static charge
would build up in the fuel, caused by the flow of the fuel in the lines.
The voltage would build up to the point that a arc would be created through
the tube, creating a pin-hole in the tubing.  If the arc didn't light the
fire, the fuel from the leak would eventually get lit.  While lots of cars
are built with plastic lines, the plastic has a filler that makes it
conductive.  All fuel lines should be electrically conductive to eliminate
this static build-up.  Rubber lines, with their carbon black filler are also
sufficiently conductive to prevent static build-up.  At least this is the
way I plan to do it.  I'm also nervous about aluminum fuel lines in the
cockpit - has anyone built with stainless steel fuel lines?

Gary Casey
ES project