65Maroon_Coupe

Guys,

As project 'get her on the road again' continues we have reached the point in the road where it is time to decide if the body is coming off this car for this stage of the project. This was never my intention, the goal was to make it run and get it out of the garage to make room for my Dad's 57 that has been in the garage since 1971 (yes, before me!)

The key reason is the damned fuel line - why through the frame, why?

The car is in this condition:
- Hood is off
- Rad, shroud and support panel are all out
- Front suspension is completely removed
- Inner fender wells are broken and out of the car
- Gas tank is out
- Diff and one trailing are are out (working on the other)
- New body mounts have been purchased (was planning on sliding them in)
- Body is in average shape, needs work, needs paint


My biggest concern in the continual project scope creep, my budget can only take so much, and the general refresh was already stretching it. There is 100% no way I can afford to redo the body right now, and to be honest, I don't want to. I want to run it for a while and not worry about nicks and scratches.

I know that body off would be the right way to do it, but I am afraid to pull the body and have the project stall. We are out of room for the body to be off the car for any length of time. I was thinking about lifting it, cleaning up the frame, painting and putting the new fuel and brake lines in and dropping it right back down. But I know we will find issues and want to take care of them.

Is there anything that can be done to safely work around the fuel line for a driver? I don't want to hack anything, but I am also not going for points here. One of the book I have mentions picking up a coil of SS fuel line from Summit and running it front-to-back.

One other key factor is that I am two hours away and can really only get in about one solid work day a month. I take home what I can to restore, My dad is a mechanic and is working on the car as well. It is not ideal, but it is where we are at.

Thoughts?

Again, thank you all for your input and help!

-Jac

Vogie

My driver quick fix became a body-off now years in progress. You will find a never ending list of things that need to be done while the body is off.

MiguelsC2

I would lift the body and get the fuel lines right. Fix anything else that fits your budget and drop it back down.

If you go for a full frame and chassis resto. It will kill your already strained budget. Fix it for go not show.

Aflyer

Jac,u
With budget strains and the distance between you and the car, I have to agree with the last poster. Lift the body off the frame, block it up 6-8 inches, and you can clean the under body, paint the frame and change the fuel and any bad brake lines, or maybe all the brake lines to be safe, and reinstall with the new mounts.

I will tell you that is what I did with mine. I got all the mecahnical and underbody safety and cosmetic issues resolved and was back on the road in a couple of months. I did all the ball joints, tie rod ends, A-arm bushings, body mounts, and sent the trailing arms out for rebuild.

I do sometimes wish I had gone farther and had the body restored, but it's been 6-7 years now and I still ok with my decision.

Good luck and please post up some more photos.

George

claf

If you are ever going to drive that car in your lifetime, before you go broke, run a "cheater" line somewhere near the original and fix it correctly "someday" when you have more time and $$$ after driving the car for a few thousand miles. You are very close to having a permanent parts car. Bob

Pilot Dan

When a daily driver car was brought to the Chevy dealer back in the day for this repair, they simply ran a new steel line along the inside of the frame rail and called it a day. They certainly did not pull the body just to route the fuel line as it was originally done. With that being said and given your desire to get the car on the road soon, that's what I would do. You can always change the line if you ever really want / need to pull the body in the future. Pilot Dan

jimmies63

I face a similar dilema. Everything done but frame off and I am concerned for brake and fuel lines. Is it simple enough to do replace the brake lines too?

65silververt

You could always run some stainless braided line on the side of the frame rail to replace the fuel line. Then later when you decide to paint the car, you can remove the body and take car of the frame and paint all at one time.
My only question is why do you need to replace the fuel line? If it is rotten, then there are other things that might need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Crunch527

Not sure why the fuel line needs fix'n, but if you remove the body it opens pandoras box. As mentioned above, I too have done all susp and drivetrain and don't want to do a body off. I will replace the body mounts this winter but will do that by jacking the body up enough to slide in the new mounts.

An external fuel line if done smartly as mentioned above should do the trick.

Btw...every time I try and do the simplest thing, I end up doing more than I intended, spending more money and time as well...just the way it goes with these old cars and is the primary reason guys get old cars tore apart but never get them back together...many run short on money or time or know how...or all three and the cars sit in a garage under a heap of junk.

I recommend staying focused on the original plan... Get the car operating safely on the road THEN worry with doing a frame off or whatever else.

Frank

FLORIDA

I agree with the quick fix based on time and money. Set a goal for a target date to be back on the road. These cars should be driven and enjoyed.

65silververt

If you decide to fix the fuel line with braided hose, use aeroquip. Yes it is more expensive, but you will not need to worry about fuel vapor smells with their braided line like you will with some of the lower end hoses.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AER-FCA0615/

two of these fittings

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-220690B/

and two of these

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-220756B/

A good accessory to have for the braided hoses are these snips. If you try to fit ends to the hose after cutting with regular snips or after using a die grinder to cut the hose you will end up cussing a lot.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-900040/

ToolMaker427

We just pulled the body off my friends 67.

There is still a lot more work for you to do before you are ready.

As soon as you see how much more you can work on, you may have a very hard time putting it back on without fixing everything you see.

Just my 2 cents.

65air_coupe

I vote don't pull it off. Did you buy the car to drive or to work on?

Mr D.

Jac

Given all that you said I would not pull the body, as others have stated fix the fuel line without pulling the body, get it back on the road, drive the pizz out of it and enjoy it.

Later in life you can pull the body and do a complete frame off if you choose.

D

Mike Geary

Recall seeing a post on how to replace the fuel line without pulling the body. I think it was from Mike C.

The trick was pulling the tail light. Made it possible to feed the line into the kickup.

Don't recall if a splice was required. Wouldn't be surprised if "yes".

65Maroon_Coupe

Thanks everyone! I was leaning in the direction of not pulling it and doing a cheater line - i just didn't want to ghetto-fab it too much. Of course, if it were a chevelle or camaro, we wouldn't even worry about it...

Sorry for not giving the quick back story - Family has owned this one from the mid-70's, it has been sitting since '78. So, I don't trust any of the lines! Plus - it was hit in the front at some point and the front to rear brake line is in a bad, bad way.

As much as I love this car, it is not the one I would buy today. I would buy the same car that was finished!

Thanks again everyone!

65Maroon_Coupe

Excellent shopping list, thank you for doing that leg work!

The size of those ends should be good to mate up with the rubber tank and fuel pump lines?

Thanks!

65silververt

-6AN is the equivalent of 3/8, so you should be good. You dont need clamps on the hose barb fittings either. Just slide the hose on and forget it.

-If you go with the stainless braided line you will need a way to attach it to the frame. You should be able to utilize some of the holes in the frame for hangers or guides.
-You will need to oil the inside of the hose, the inside, and the exterior braided portion before pushing the fitting on. I am sure there is a youtube video on how to assemble the hose ends to the hose. Make sure you blow the lines out with compressed air after assembly. You dont want any of those small metal flakes ending up in the carb.

65Maroon_Coupe

Perfect.

I was thinking the same. I'll check it out this saturday.

Thanks! We have some experience with braided lines, my Dad and brother did his Bridge Ported (or maybe J Ported...) 86 RX-7 with all braided lines, there might even be a handful of fittings around the garage!