Hey guys I’ve been working on my wagon quite a bit lately. I’m just curious to know if anyone has ever successfully replaced the stock feed line with a pre bent 3/8 metal line without removing the body? A couple of the body bushing could be replaced on mine but overall they aren’t in terrible shape. I’ve already got the steering column out for repair and the saginaw trans out so I could zip the bolts out and lift the body off I suppose. I’ve only ever done this with GM trucks for brake lines and fuel lines but I’m assuming it’s pretty straight forward? I could try to clean up the frame and throw some POR15 on it as well or just buy some 3/8 braided line and call it a day. The car has around 130k miles on it and is in pretty decent shape. It’s been parked in a garage and hasn’t moved since 2003. The original fuel line is still in pretty good shape as well but I’ve already got a new fuel tank and replaced the electric pump with a mechanical one. I guess if I do go the route of lifting the body is there a place that anyone recommends for body bushings? Thanks for your time.
79 Malibu wagon fuel line
- Thread starter Mighty
- Start date
I did mine with the car on jackstands. If you can put it up on a lift it would be much easier. Lots of twisting and turning.
FYI, I made a mistake when I ordered the lines. Got them for an El Camino thinking it would be the right length and they were too long.
I’ve already got the new pre bent line. I started taking the original one loose that’s in the car and quickly realized how big of a PITA is was going to be without lifting the body. My problem is that the car hasn’t moved in 20 years and I just want to get it going and cruise in it this summer. The original feed line isn’t in bad shape and it’s not cut anywhere so I could spend 10 minutes and run a couple inches of rubber line to the new fuel pump and a foot or so to the new tank and be done. Looking over how hard it would be to lift the body I noticed a handful of body bushings could be replaced but some look ok. It would be a lot more work but I’d be able to scrub on the frame with a wire brush and paint it while the body’s off. I’m using a lift in my brothers shop and I feel bad having one of his 3 tied up. I ordered a rebuild kit for a super t10 and as I stated, I’m waiting for the steering column to come in so I might
Have some time waiting on parts to arrive that I can lift the body up. Then again I’d have to find/wait on new body bushings too. Have to decide if i want to do it now whiles it’s in there and half torn apart or wait a until next year or over the coming winter if a rack opens up
Have some time waiting on parts to arrive that I can lift the body up. Then again I’d have to find/wait on new body bushings too. Have to decide if i want to do it now whiles it’s in there and half torn apart or wait a until next year or over the coming winter if a rack opens up
I guess you can see how easily a project can snowball. I suppose if you come up with a plan to systematically replace the body mounts and fuel line, not to overwhelm yourself. ..or you can make the car drivable with a minimal amount of work in order to get a better feel of what the car needs. Driving it for the first time may help increase your enthusiasm. Then you can plan on replacing the necessary parts.
I used the Energy Suspension body mounts. There's a few other brands available that are probably equal in quality. Just make sure you use a good penetrant on the bolts and allow the penetrating fluid to do it's job. Be patient. You may also find that some of the bolts are partially eaten away from corrosion. Just be patient when trying to loosen the bolts. Use a breaker bar, not an impact wrench. You want to try to remove these bolts without snapping them.
I used the Energy Suspension body mounts. There's a few other brands available that are probably equal in quality. Just make sure you use a good penetrant on the bolts and allow the penetrating fluid to do it's job. Be patient. You may also find that some of the bolts are partially eaten away from corrosion. Just be patient when trying to loosen the bolts. Use a breaker bar, not an impact wrench. You want to try to remove these bolts without snapping them.
Absolutely saw this coming lol. I’ve got this project going on and a 97 dodge diesel I just bought not too long ago that I’m completely redoing the interior on if I have any free time. The wagon gets top priority though. It just has so many good memories attached to it and my dad is getting up there in age so I’d like to get it going so we can go to some car shows this summer. I don’t have high hopes for his 68 coronet ever getting finished. Time to start searching body bushings I guess.
Be aware that body bushings are a rabbit hole. Along with the bushings it is 100% likely that you will need the matching mounting bolts for the body and that while extracting the old bolts, a minimum of one and a max of ??? will snap. You may also discover that the pockets in the frame that accept those bushings have suffered injury from rust or corrosion over the years; happens to even southern cars, just at a slower rate.
Within the last couple of months there has been another thread on the subject of body mount extraction and replacement. The resident search engine for this forum should be able to locate it for you or likely that someone hereabouts will know which one I am referring to.
Nick
Within the last couple of months there has been another thread on the subject of body mount extraction and replacement. The resident search engine for this forum should be able to locate it for you or likely that someone hereabouts will know which one I am referring to.
Nick
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