Apparently the fuel feed and return lines rotted out right where the frame kicks up by the back wheel sometime in the past.Problem is instead of bending new lins the previous owner or his mechanic,decided too cut the lines in the hardest to get to spot on the whole car,right in the kickup itself behind the brake line tab!Then they ran hoses under the crossmember.. ..UNDER THE CROSSMEMBER!!!!!I still can't believe it.I managed to get some hard line in where the original line went but it's not pretty,as a matter of fact it's damn ugly,but it doesn't leak and the car doesn't seem fuel starved so it will do for a little while anyway.So what I want to know is...Is there anyway to replace that fuel line properly without lifting the body off the frame?This is really pissing me off since I de bubba'd everything else.

 

So from the lack of responces should I assume that I'll be ordering a body mount kit as well as SS fuel lines?

 

Well.... I am not trying to defend Bubba here but what you describe is the easiest way to fix the fuel line without lifting the body. The line is one piece from the pump to the tank, no way you can get this installed without lifting the body off.
My line is (was) rotted, too. I "fixed it with a hose from the tank to the kickup, then steel line to the pump. This is temporarily, the final fix is a SS braided high pressure and temperature rated hose, one piece from tank to pump.... I do not have any desire to lift the body for this $^&%%$ fuel line
You could cut the new line where the kickup is and install some sort of a coupling (or hose).... keep in mind that the fuel lines are not pressurized

 

The hose didn't bother me as much as the fact it was run on the bottom side of the crossmember.Perfect place to get cut by road debris.If they had at least put it between the body and frame it wouldn't habve been as much of an issue.

 

That's where my hose is - between the body and the frame, just like where the stock line is located

Running it under the frame is definately Bubba, is it held in place with duct tape ??

Summit/jegs sell the SS braided hoses. These are not cheap but less pain than pulling the body.

 

It was held in with tie wraps.I managed to snake steel line in there with just very short sections of hose to connect,and only cause I didn't have enough room to get a union in there.

 

 

Yup,that about sums it up!

 

i think if i was in your position i would give the car a good inspection from top to bottoma dn front to back and see what else bubba has done. it almost seems like you find a new bubba fix atleast once a week

 

There was a thread about this in the last year.......I think it was Paul Borowski that had replaced the solid line without removing the body...on 2 Vettes....a '68 and '75.....don't know if a '79 is different.......I do know it sounded like a PITA......a full day and a lot of swearing......

Good luck and keep us posted......I'll be doing this soon......

 

I have been through it,that was the last Bubba,unfortunately it's the biggest PITA.Drove it to work this morning so I can get it to the alignment shop,what a blast.

 

I found a long piece of rubber hose running up the frame that was used because of the same thing. Problem was as th rocker channels rusted out the line kept getting pinched off anytime someone sat in the passenger seat. I replaced all the fuel and brake lines once I got the body off to fix the rocker channels.

 

I replaced all my lines (fuel and brake) without removing the body. Whoever started the rumor that it cant be done was full of s#it.

 

I did the brake lines with the body on - that was a pain but not as bad as many thought.... how did you get the long fuel line in there ?

 

The trick is getting the car off the ground as high as possible...a lift would be ideal. Feed the new line from back to front through the wheel well. Once fed through, you can mimmic the factory bends. It was actually pretty easy.

 

...very good memory. ...yes I DID do it to those to cars and you'll swear, skin your knuckes, swear, bleed...

...on my '75 coupe, which is an automatic, you can do this car with a pre-bent OEM line in OEM steel-I do not think you could carefully bend and unbend stainless to fish it through the trailing arm pocket/kickup area like you can the OEM steel tubing which was bad enough. Of course being an automatic(that it used to be), it has the removeable crossmember-but was still a biatch. The '68 with the non removable crossmember I ruined two lines, one a pre-bent one I purchased, another a pre-bent one I made exactly like the pre-bent one I ordered.

For the third and successful try, I went to NAPA and got a 25' roll of both steel OEM tubing of 3/8" and 1/4", unwound them straight, STARTED from the BACK of the car(with tank and spare tire carrier out)and SLOWLY, SLOWLY INCHED the 3/8" line FIRST along the right rear frame, down the kickup, around that "hard-to-do" right, then left inching and bending as I went-took over 5hrs to do that car, BUT the line looks nice, is in all the factory clips and looks factory.

...if I have to do another one, I'll do it the same way EXCEPT I'll drive up to Summit and do the lines with ALUMINUM TUBING-which I would have done BOTH cars the first time around with aluminum tubing-would have been alot EASIER.

 

Thanks Paul,looks like thats a project for a weekend this winter.