carcruse

My fuel lines have rusted through. Any body know who makes pre-bent steel lines from tank to front of car for an 84? Has anybody replaced theirs? Does the rear end support have to be dropped to get the new lines over it? :confused:

Aggravated4life

No one makes pre bent lines for these cars yet...my lines rusted through as well.
Its a PITA to try and bend your own lines where they need to go.
The entire rear end diff. has to come out..the rear bumper needs to be pulled off and the gas tank frame lowered in the back to pull the tank out as well.
I dropped everything out of the car and decided to go with aeroquip braided fuel hoses..I did buy used fuel lines from the Junk yard but i had to drive there and found out it didnt fit right..it was from a 88 or 89 car and was bent diferently then mine.
AND they rusted internally...used compressed air in the used lines and brown rust color dust blew out the lines.

I contacted everyone I could think of..GM, all the Vette companies and even the ones making stainless steel lines for the older cars now...no one makes them as of now. :(

I replaced my lines from the fuel filter and return line at the union under the passenger front fender area to the gas tank in the back with one long braided hoses for both lines.
The stock GM nuts that hold the lines under the passenger side floor area, they broke off on me...I ended up drilling through the floor there and installing my own screws and nuts to attach the braided lines to the floor area.
The braided lines are thicker and wont fit on the GM screws anyways, even with the clips you can buy to keep them together.
I got mine to fit with some work and all is well now.

However, if you decide to go with braided lines, call the manufacturers first and ask them which type of braided fuel hoses wont vent a gas smell...I heard theres a teflon coated hose now that wont smell like gas fumes..my braided hose will vent gas fumes, albeit not strong but you can smell it if you get close enough to them.I didnt know this when I bought them that they can vent a smell through them a little bit...dont know if that would be a problem for you, so call the manufacturer, not the companies that sell them, and ask them what to use.

or you can pull your entire steel lines out and buy your own steel replacement lines and bend them yourself...with the proper tools...but you will need to get the rubber fuel hoses for the gas tank pressed onto the lines.Dont know anyone who can do that.

One of the companies I called told me to send them my old lines and they can make me new ones, custom made.
That way alot more money then what I spended on braided hoses and their special fittings, which wasnt cheap anyways.Turn around time was like 3-4 weeks and I didnt want to wait that long, plus i had no way to ship them lines, theyre so long even the junk yards didnt want to try and ship the ones they had in stock.

Good Luck and email me if you need some help if you decide to plumb the car with braided lines.
Ill tell you how I did it and etc.

damn this was long...lol...

reeltime299

Bill
I could use some help on the braided fuel lines. The lines on my 86 are almost ready to fall apart very badly rusted. Is there any way to replace them w/o removing the diff & pulling the bumper? What type of fittings do I need to connect the braded lines to the fuel filter & the return line union under the filter & to the gas tank?
Thanks,
Rick

Aggravated4life

Hey Rich,
I looked under my car again to see if theres room...I think one can remove the lines out of the car without dropping the whole rear end down IF you cut them off in sections.

I dont mean using a hack saw or dremel tool(no sparks! lol)..just bolt cutters to kink them enough to break them off in sections especially where it runs right over the rear..the braided lines can then be possibly slipped over in there.If not, disconnect the one rear end carrier top side bolt and let it tilt down a 1/4 inch or so with a jack stand.

The tightest place is the frame rail that goes behind the wheel well.The fuel lines run up inside there and then theres a brake line under it..theyre all clipped on the frame rail running over in there just before the rear end.
One brake steel line has to be lowered to allow the remaining steel fuel lines to come out from up inside there.

You need sized -6N hoses to replace the lines.

Just from the fuel filter back, you need a saginaw type to a AN type fitting to adjointhe 2 diff fittings..its easy to do.
GM uses saginaw types while the braid uses AN types.

LPE sells this kit, they use them on the fuel rails for TPI conversions in older cars...its the same thing as the fuel lines fitment...the filter and feed line gets the 3/8 saginaw to -6 hose size w/AN fitting and the return line union is 5/16,a little smaller,gets the piece made for that to attach to the -6N hose.

AT the gas tank you just clamp the hoses down with the clamps, same as the way the stock rubber lines are done.


You may not have to drop the rear to do this job but I highly suggest to pull the rear bumper cover off to help see and route the braid lines in a safe manner, similiar to where GM ran the stock steel lines.
.
I can try and take some pictures and send them email so you can see what I did under the car and get an basic idea.

In most places, I was able to reuse the stock holes where the stock lines used to be bolted down..I got longer screws and new clips for the lines and screwed them into the stock holes..GM discontinued the fuel line clips, but they would be too small anyways for braided lines which are a tad bit larger.

Hope this helps some.

reeltime299

Thanks bill pics would be nice if you could send them to reeltime299@yahoo.com if you have the time. What did
the kit cost from LPE? Can you give me a website or a
Phone #.
Thanks again,
Rick

Aggravated4life

Hey Rick,
Ill see if I can do that later today..I have an appt today this afternoon and will gone for some time.
The LPE kit sells around 24-30 dollars for the adaptor kit...kinda expensive, but none of the catalogs had these exact fitting pieces that I needed.

The forum should have a LPE link here somewhere.
I cant rem the www addy or phone number...my catalog is packed away right in since I will be moving soon.
Try using Lingenfelter in a www search or LPE.Should turn up some numbers so you can call.
Ill see if I can get some pics made later today or tomorrow.

carcruse

Bill: Thanks for the response. I was afraid that that was the response I would get. I tried GM and the pre-bent line dealers but nobody had them. I bent new steel lines from near the tank to near the jacking point . Managed to snake it up there by dropping the spare tire cover. I don't like the idea though of a rubber hose connection above the exhaust. I'll probably have a tough time trying to find some used 84 lines in excellent condition but I'll keep looking. If any manufacturer's are out there how about looking into making up the lines? A need appears to be just starting.

vettenuts

Yes, welcome to the club. I have been saying this will be the biggest problems that C4 owners face in the coming years. One other option is to buy the stainless lines with the correct fittings in the correct length and bend them yourself. I have done this, and with the proper tools it can be done. I bought some cheap lines from Autozone to practice on. I think you will be seeing this question come up a lot more in the future. Good luck.

Aggravated4life

Hey guys,
wanted to add another note...Vette nuts was pretty correct in his statement..its going to be difficult for any companies to reproduce these steel lines since GM has changed them quite a few times since 84.
On later cars, the return line is 3/8 hose size, not 5/16..thats from the union back to the tank...Dont know what they did with the front lines either.
heard theres been a few changes...looks like someone will have to make all of them for the specific model and years...even the convertible has lines bent a little differently then the coupe because of the X brace rear point location.

The junk yard gave me convertible lines by mistake...
I even looked at another forum members car who has a 91 convertible and the fuel lines were bent like the ones the junk yard gave me by mistake.It was also too short.

And whos to say the lines will be any good?Im speaking mainly of the pressed on rubber hoses at the tank..even GM changed the length of the hoses back there.I bought new power steering hoses, and a pressed on one was leaking in a month at the sleeve!!
:(

Cant imagine what a fuel leak would do!! :(
If someone makes these lines with pressed on hoses, can we trust theyre making them with good quality?

I dont blame you for not wanting to run a braided rubber line over the exhaust..its about 6 inches away where it attaches to the back frame above the muffler and Y pipes...however Ive had good luck so far with it all.But I may someday covert back to steel lines if a GOOD replacement is made.

Im only suggesting braided lines for those who want something easier to install and cant find anyone or have the mechanical means to bend their own lines and then find a shop that can press the hoses on.

But Bob had a good idea to go buy some cheap lines and practice.Summit racing catalogs have some really good line benders..dont buy the autozone benders, theyre not very good..I have them and not impressed.

Its not easy trying to bend a line thats almost 15 feet long with a tool by hand and trying to get a 45 degree or so bend here and there.Ive tried it..lol..oh man.What a PITA.