79 Malibu wagon fuel line

[Ugly1]

Other things to look at is the F41 suspension/ body braces listed in the Tech information. There are also looking into the Buick GNX mod’s that can be done as well.

 

[CopperNick]

Well, failing the existence of access room for the sawzall, you could try to drill the bolt head out. The head is about 3/8ths thick and if you start with a 1/8th bit and work your way up to just under 3/8ths you might be able to shell out the head to where it is hollow enough that you can smack it with a punch and hammer and knock it off. Those bolts are metric and only 9.8 which is around a grade 5. They can be drilled provided you use good HSS drill bits and not cheap carbon steel ones from the local bulk hardware store.



Nick

 

[CopperNick]

Thanks, pagrunt, was going to send him in the direction of that Elky thread because the bolts were mentioned on it but you posting that link saves me the key strokes. Appreciated.



Nick

 

[Mighty]

Success. My brother drilled The problem bolt out today. I just wanted to thank all of you guys for the help and advice and links to parts thus far. Luckily he was up there when I got off work because I was raring to go and would’ve definitely screwed something up if I was by myself. Like the clutch bracket that’s bolted to the frame or the big main wiring harness that plugs into the firewall and all the random crap that he could remember from 20 years ago like the line lock wires and where it was mounted and the MSD wiring. I won’t be going back up until Thursday after work but I plan on bringing a power washer and some degreaser. Anyone have any good recommendations for what they would paint the frame with? I was planning on POR15 but I’m open to suggestions. Again, thanks for all of your help.

 

[Longroof79]

Wow James.
I didn't think it was going to lead to a complete body off project. Having access to a lift is truly beneficial. I guess you will have the choice to clean and paint the frame....and of course replace the fuel line. May as well check all the brake lines while you have access to them.
As for chassis paint. I hear pros and cons relating to POR-15. Believe it or not, Rust-oleum makes a good quality enamel. I believe it's the High Performance paint. I'm not sure if they make the semi-gloss black in quarts and gallons. Might be only in spray cans.
Eastwood also sells a chassis black paint that supposed to be a good quality paint.

 

[Mighty]

Yep my brother has his own shop with 3 lifts and I hope I don’t have this one tied up for a whole lot longer. At least have the body back on and steering column back in so we can push it in and out if we have to. Fuel line too of course but that won’t take any time. Plus he’s far more knowledgeable about this stuff than I am, I just mostly enjoy doing it and learning. He mentioned pricing out brake lines for it. It looks like my dad replaced the one that runs runs above the rear end to each rear wheel back when of this all started. I plan on ordering the body bolts tonight and power washing the frame tomorrow night when I get off work. Then maybe Saturday morning look it over for any places that might need hit with a wire brush. Hopefully I can have it painted at some point next week but I always get ahead of myself and will probably run into more hiccups along the way.

 

[Ugly1]

We all understand the power of side tracking from other projects! Looking good though!!

 

[Longroof79]

I commend you on your enthusiasm, willingness to take the bull by the horns, so to speak. Nice work so far. Having a brother that's a mechanic with access to a well equipped shop is certainly is an asset. Go get 'em James. 🙂

 

[CopperNick]

Before you choose your frame paint, I'd personally suggest delousing the metal using some kind of media blast. I sort of lean towards Soda due to it being eco-friendly to some degree but whatever is available. Then go nuts with a compressor driven crevice tool and clean out the crap in the frame rails that always escapes the blast. 3M makes a frame coating specially for the inside of the tubes/rails and it comes with a trio of tubes of various lengths to get deep into the frame innards.


After that, well, lots of suggestions have been posted on this board. One that you might want to check out is Eastwood. They offer a frame coating system, or did, my catalogue is several minutes old.

Valspar also offers products and Rustoleum was just mentioned above. Gotta be others 'cause most everyone has their personal favorite.

Somewhere, sometime back, i did post on POR-15. it is not a rust killer, it is a rust encapsulator. The underlying concept is that without oxygen the rust can't propagate. If you use POR be aware that it is UV degradable and has to be top coated or covered to keep it from being injured. It can also abraid or be worn away if on the bottom of a frame rail that sees a lot of gravel or sand based roads.




Nick

 

[Mighty]

Interesting and thanks for the info. About 10-12 years ago my brother helped me take the bed off of my 97 ram diesel to replace rusty spring hangers. While it was off I power washed the back half of the frame and bought some POR15 and painted it. I feel like that stuff was around $60 a can if I remember right? Last year when I had it on a rack to replace a rusty fuel line I noticed a rust hole about the side of a quarter in the passenger side frame rail under the bed where it went from a C channel to boxed and a bunch of crud had built up over time. I had someone patch it but I know it’s just a matter of time now. That’s why I bought another 97 with low miles and a spotless frame but it needs a lot of work. I’ll probably steer clear of the POR
15 this time. When I oil spray my GMC each fall I stick the wand inside the frame rails where ever I can and go to town.