So, if you want my opinion of the stuff, go review the old Tim McCamis video on the subject.

But, I have a car in the shop to plumb and wire and the owner is an old guy just getting back into racing and he's on a budget. Wants to bring me an Amazon AN kit with $1000 worth of stuff were it a decent brand for $50, maybe. I am resistant because of horror stories and stuff.

I don't want the car to catch on fire because of junk parts. But I want the guy to race. So...any real experiences with this crap. OK? Recycled pop cans? Threads jacked up? Hose looks like a lawn sprinkle? Tell me it's trash and I'll put my preferred brand on it and deal with it.

I think you already know the answer.

I have had problems with "Summit" branded hose ends over the years so I can just imagine what stuff you gather up on Amazon is like.

Just click the "Price lowest to highest" button and buy the first thing that pops up!

Biggest problem I have ran into seem to be the cheap "swivel" hose ends.

Meanwhile I have Aeroquip and Earls ends on my car that quite possibly came across on the Mayflower.....

I have found that if I can use Push-lock fittings it saves a bunch of money. I like to use good quality hose lube for assembly

Gus

Ask the "old guy" if he's ever seen a fuel-fed fire, a fluid leak under one rear tire during a pass, or visited a burn ward.

Some things, you just don't jack with.

I'd use good quality black rubber hose and new autoparts clamps before I used that stuff.

Depending on the type of fitting and where it's used they might be ok. I wouldn't use any elbow (tube) 90 or 45's I definitely wouldn't trust 'cheap' braided line. I use mainly Fragola or Earl's but I've been given some Summit stuff to build with (not my car). So, I know where you stand.

First of all, Tim McCamis is a borderline racist and in his opinion if it isn't made in the USA its sh!t. On the other hand, if you look at the stuff he builds, its nothing but top shelf stuff for people with very deep pockets. I can understand him not using China stuff but he doesn't have to be so negatively outspoken about the stuff.

As for the quality of the stuff, I have no issues with it but one thing that was pointed out on a recent video I watched is that eack manufacturer (Earls, Russel, etc) build their hoses to their own spec and their fittings accordingly. So It is not recommended to mix fittings from one vendor with hose from another. However, connecting one manufaturer's fittings to another is a non-issue ... AN is AN.

As for myself, I like the Fragola stuff but have no issues using Summit's house brand.

Just doing a quick search on Amazon and going to guess this fellow is looking at Evil branded products. It's imported stuff for sure. The hose is the smaller I.D. material (-6 shows 0.340). If you have the abiltiy to pressure test the hose assemblies before installing them, then you may have some relief in knowing that they didn't leak or blow the ends off....but, not everyone has the ability to pressure test assembiles to verify the good from the bad. So, this is a gamble for sure.

As for the socketless/push-lok hose, the Aeroquip FC598 that Summit sells has worked for me. Might be a better deal out there through an Aeroquip distributor? The AQP tube is pretty tough to a lot of chemicals, and has a higher temp rating. The socketless hose can be used with just about any hose barb that is designed for this type of hose (brand specific does not apply here). Simple 80-90w gear oil is good assembly lube.

I am an Aeroquip push lok type of guy. Simple andl only medium stupid expensive.

I will need to replace all the steel braided lines when I switch over to E85. Want to use cotton braided to save some weight!

If the guy wants to be cheap and danger himself, fine. But don't forget, some poor soul is in the other lane and doesn't get a vote on what you duct tape/zip tie/bubble gum together just to "race". I'd be passing on that job if it's a deal breaker to use junk.

I would not cheap out on the Chinese hose and fittings. Never a fan of the blue and red with steel braided hose. However, when all the black fittings and hose came out I switched everything over to the black on all of my cars. I have mostly all Fragola on my car.

Probably a good time to mention that not all fittings of the same "size" are indeed the same size inside - some companies' AN fittings neck down more than others.

A few years ago I went from a plastic fuel cell to an aluminum in doing so I needed a longer return line from my pump to the cell as the fitting for the return was in a different location on the new cell . I called Jegs and bought one of their premade -8 hoses with fittings to use ... I checked and tightened the fittings several times and one still leaked. I went to my local speed shop and the owner made me up a new hose with brand name fittings and I never had another leak of course it was a lot more money than the Jegs . He said it wasn't the first time he saw that problem with " knock off " fittings . Jegs did however accept my returned hose and refunded my money

I've been using "off brand" hose fittings for many years. I've used Aeroquip, Goodrich, Earls and the Australian brand Speedflow but now use mainly Torques stuff. Never had an Issue but I was real nervous about using them because of the horror stories bandied about on the internet. Not the cheapest of the cheap (around 1/2 the price of an aeroquip equivalent), disassembled they look identical to any of the big name suppliers. I do always buy quality hose as the off brand stuff I've tried doesn't just seem to be as good. We have -3 to -12 on both cars.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/torquesuk

What liner does the hose have, neopreme, rubber, teflon?
If it isn't Teflon lined I would tell him that I didn't want to use that hose on the fuel system

X2. I don't intermix hose manufactuer and fitting, but definitely don't worry about fitting to fitting connections. Like you said, AN is AN. I've used Fragola, Summit and Vibrant (Chinese stuff) without issues. I do personally know somebody that had issues with Russell's AN fittings but that was probably 2 decades ago at this point.

I try and use Speedflow stuff when I can, it's made locally (Australia) and has always been made to a high standard. I have used push-loc fittings quite a lot as well, it's a little less expensive and does the job well.I've also used Eaton and Aeroquip steel push-loc fittings as well. Over here, that stuff was only marginally cheaper than what I was paying for the Speedflow stuff.
My issue with a lot of the chinese made stuff is often it's just a direct copy of someone else's stuff. There is no effort in it, other than posting over a sample and asking for 10000 of them to be made. One speedshop in Aus went as far as copying their competitors part numbers, along with the fittings themselves.

As always with the chinese made stuff, it's hit and miss. I'm not made of money, but I'd rather save for a little longer and get something decent.

I've also gone to the Fragola stuff, after using Aeroquip for decades. For a variety of reasons. And I've gone away from the stainless braid stuff.

The hard parts, adapters, and unions are not such a big deal, although I don't cheap out on those either. The hose and ends are really what matter, and yes, you should use hose and ends from the same manufacturer.

I believe I'm just going to do what I need to do to use the good stuff. Really no interest in using junk.