I have a 87 and read the annual post from VTvette and became concerned. I know the fuel hoses in the front of the engine are original and hold 47 psig. So, I thought I would upgrade both of these lines with braided stainless hoses. I had two 6-AN lines I used on my 74 Vet years ago. Twenty years in service should be long enough, so, time to replace them.
For those interested in making this element far safer for your L98, I have pictures of the course I choose. I would hate to see class Corvettes like these go up in flames. This not to mention those in the car.

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff207/gwnewlon/

 

What size fillings did you use? What kind of flair tool? The pictures are great, but how about a step by step for us idiots?

Thanks, Randy

 

There are a number of ways to do this job. I used two same size -06AN braided stainless steel hoses approximately 12-inches in length. On each, one end is straight and the other end is 45° with -06AN tube nuts. If you look carefully at the picture of the two lines from the engine side of the injection you will note one is 5/16 and the other is 3/8 tubing. The 5/16 tubing uses the -05AN fittings and the 3/8 tubing uses the -06AN fittings.
One can use braided hoses for the 5/16 tube and braided hoses for the 3/8 tube. The reason I say this is that it would probably be neater should one use hoses in the size of the corresponding size tube. This would have a differing fitting list than the one I have.
The list of fittings I used are as follows:
Flare Union Male threads -06AN to -06AN 2 each
Flare Union Male threads -05AN to -06AN 2 each
Tube Sleeve -05AN 2 each
Tube Sleeve -06AN 2 each
Tube Nut -05AN 2 each
Tube Nut -06AN 2 each

The flaring tool I used was a Sears number 51255. This tool set has the double flare tooling inserts included. However, I was unable to form the double flare as the tube would slip. So I wound up with using the single wall flare.

I used a small tubing cutter to cut the original factory hose off at the Corvette’s frame. I did this as close to the hose clamp as possible because you need as much tubing there as possible. The reason is that I could not get the tubing from the filters off the car, so, I had to do the flares in place on the car. It is tight, however, this flare tool will get in there and form the tubing. Suggest one read the instructions which come with the flare tool set. Make sure you have the tubing cut squarely with the tube, deburred inside and the tube sleeve and nut in place before forming the flare. I chose to make the flare just under the ID of the nut threads so to make the most surface area sealing as possible. I used a stick out of .074” for the 3/8 tube and .062” for the 5/16 tube. I wound up having to file down the outside of the flare on the 3/8 tube flare in order to slip the nut over it.
Once the tubes on the car are prepared, the two on the engine can be removed and the flares formed on a work bench. This is a much more pleasant working environment. I had to straighten the two tubes that where mounted on the engine in order to mount the flare tool along with the nut and sleeve before forming the flare.
So far everything sounds easy, however, I was surprised that the inside if both tubes had a flash which had to be smoothed out in order to obtain a proper seal. This took the longest part of the project and strained my patience. There are probably others in the forum with better knowledge and skill in this area that I do. I hope they share their thoughts.
I am happy to try to answer any further questions you may have.

Hope this was helpful,
Gary