Okay, so I just bought fuel lines from eckler's and now I want to install them. Two issues have become apparent: I am unsure of a good method of unbending them as well as getting them into the car. I still have the original fuel lines in and have not attempted to remove them. It looks like I can lower the fuel lines off the frame rails ahead of the crossmembers and them maybe pull towards the front of the car. Is this a good method? Any tips or tricks on installing and unbending? I have pipe benders for thin walled tubing (look like tight springs) but they dont fit over the flared ends. Once again any advise is welcomed. Thanks in advance guys.

 

Bump

 

I have bad news for you. There are some people who say that they have replaced the fuel lines without raising the body. I can only say that they are very talented. I tried to do the same thing and ran out of patience.

If there is nothing wrong with your fuel lines I would just leave them alone. The problem area is where the fuel line rises upward just ahead of the rear wheel. If you do have to replace them do a search of previous postings and you may get some good tips.
Good Luck,
Steve

 

I have been told it is possible with the body on BUT you may have to cut the pre bent lines and then join them.
Also some guys are running flexible hose from front to back.

This is on my list of to do items and I have a mini pipe bender and will buy a coil of tubing and make sections as required and join them.

If you can get your car on a ramp it would certainly help with the install.
As there have been numerous posts about this recently it would be great if you were to document your work as you progress and dont forget lots of pics!

Good luck.

 

Alright then. I will see what I can do. I might just cut my lines and snake it in from there. I was hoping for a much better answer than this... Oh well I guess. As for my current fuel lines, they are shot and need to be replaced so it looks like I have someone do it for me or I just piece-wise them together. Yeah, I'll write down my process and post it with as much gory detail as possible. Thanks again guys.

 

Even if you have some one do it for you, Im pretty sure they will have to make at least one cut / join.

Go for it...you can do it!

 

Greg…

I started to replace the fuel lines on my 1973 back in 2002… one thing led to another and I ended up doing a frame-off on the car… be careful what you start!!!

I had heard, and surmised, that I would need to lift the body off of the frame in order to fit the new lines. I did a bit more research and was told that they could be installed (with some difficulty), if you just lifted that side of the body about 3 inches. Unfortunately I never got to find out, as this is when I discovered that 6 of my 8 body mounts were rusted out… hence the frame-off.

The good news is they’re easy to fit with the body off, and the frame-off turned out fabulously… the bad news is I now have more in a ’73 roadster than I can ever hope to get out of it.

The lines as shipped are wrapped around a large cylinder, often a wheel rim. Un-bending them should require little more than carefully “un-wrapping” them. When I saw the manner in which they did this, I chose to pick them up at Carlisle, un-bent. As you probably know they’re a bit more than 8 feet when un-bent. I also chose to go with the stainless steel lines as I don’t ever intend to do this job again. The minor difference in price was well worth it.

Before you start cutting lines, I would recommend you look at your body mount bolts and see how difficult it would be to unfasten them. If they appear in pretty good condition, try lifting the body a few inches and see if the lines can’t be installed without cutting them. At the very least you will have more room to maneuver the lines if you do decide you need to cut them.

Good luck… GUSTO

 

Gusto - So if I follow you correctly doing the fuel lines without doing a full frame-off is possible.

In fact if your body mounts need new busings, etc. it would be a good time to do both since you've got to undo them anyway.

 

If you are having difficulty unbending the new fuel lines you just received, with all due respect, I would encourage you to leave them in the box and return. The challenges that lie ahead in installing them are way more difficult. You will not get them in without cutting them or raising the body. A much better soluting would be to run a braded hose, but do you really need a new fuel line? If your original line does not leak, why replace it? You can loosen the bolts that secure it to the frame and clean it with a kitchen pot scrubber pad. After both lines are clean you can paint them with a rust inhibiting paint and replace the rubber hose ends.

 

If you bought the stainless steel lines then it is very hard to bend let alone unbend them. Also, the lines are held in place with bolts and clamps on the top of the frame in the back before it gets to the tank. This makes it impossible to get to without some lifting of the body.

 

Difficult yes, impossible to get to the fuel line bolts, maybe. Checking first is always a good idea. With some patience and a modified wrench I was able to unfasten the bolts on both my 69 and 79. My 79 had a rusted, but solid fuel line in the kick-up area. I tried cleaning it before replacing with a braded rubber line. After thoroughly cleaning and preping it, I painted both lines with left over silver POR 15 from my fuel tank. It came out better than I had hoped. This is why I say, if it doesn't leak; a good cleaning and paint can produce a satisfactory result. I got both lines free from the frame clamps and scrubbed them well. The POR is fuel resistant and works well in this application. In the long run, I believe this is easier than trying to bend a new line without removing the body and about the same as replacing the line with a braded hose. Remember, to do the braded hose correctly you need to remove the flared end and use an AN threaded adapter on the tank sender. When I hear someone say something is easy, I am always suspicious. It seems every project opens another can of worms.

 

I agree with the difficulty of the project. However, I asked about unbending the fuel lines not because I can't handle it, I just don't want to make a mistake that can easily be avoided. When I bent thin-walled tubing in the past, it didn't have flared ends which allowed me to use the pipe bender.

As for the condition of my lines, they look fantastic on the outside. The problem is I suspect my fuel line (return) to be rusting from the inside out (the previous owner let it sit a lot with water in the tank and I had mysterious flakes of rust in my tank that is not making it the pump and the tank is in excellent shape (dropped and cleaned that two weekends ago)). I was never able to determine if the if the rust was from a bad fuel station.

So here is my solution: Rebolt the fuel lines (I managed to reach each bolt except for one just ahead of the x-member), put a fresh amount of good fuel in the tank, get the car running and use the car as my daily driver for a week. Then I can check the tank as well as the new in-line fuel filter and in-carb filter and syphon a sample out to see if the rust appears. If not, I will forget the fuel lines and assume it was bad gas. If it does, I might look into braided SS lines. I plan on running an LSx in this car eventually, so the braided SS would look good.

If anyone sees a flaw in my plan let me know. I am knew to all of this. I have been a auto fan for years. Heck, I studied IC engines, vehicle dynamics and a slue of others in engineering college but this is my first real wrench turning project involving a car. Please have patience for the book worm! Thanks again guys; always a pleasure.

 

Hey Greg,
Let me see if I can assist you a bit. Here's what I did. The fuel lines that come from the front of the car are fairly easy to install until you come to the part of the frame just ahead of the rear wheel. This is the point that I cut the lines. At this point of the frame is a large gusset that ties the right side frame rail and the rear crossmember. This is where I connected the two lines together with a quality fuel hose made of rubber. If you do it right you can hide the rubber part of the lines in the gusset pocket. Make sure after you cut the lines that the ends have no sharp edges or burrs that will cut into the rubber hoses due to flexing or vibration. Also I used double clamps on each side of the hoses for extra insurance. I hope this will be of some help to you. By the way, I am the original owner of my 75 and it is in backyard buddys ad. If there is anything I can help you with just let me know.
Good Luck
Steve

 

greg
just get the braided hose and send back the steel.
steel is near-junk imo(cheapest as per GM bean counters)

 

You have a reasonable plan, remember, if it ain't broke don't fix it , and different isn't always better. My 79 line was heavily rust pitted in the area below the kick-up and maintained its integrity after much flexing during my clean-up procedure. I believe what you have will perform satisfactorly.