Fuel lines

Anyone know if the steel fuel line that runs from the tank to the fuel pump on my 59 Star Chief 389 is one piece or is it suppose to have a rubber splice where it bends to come up to the engine. I know it has rubber just off the fuel pump, but this is down low nearer the frame. Seems like it should be one piece.

Been a while since I looked but I think mine is one piece up to just before the fuel pump where it is a rubber line.

There is a ribber piece around where the body mount is on the driver's side front.

Yah, right about the time it turns upward to come up toward the fuel pump, then there is a second piece of steel tubing that comes up to within a few inches of the pump. Then there is another rubber piece that attaches to the pump. Is this original design or should it all be one piece of steel?

I assume it's original. I'll look today but I think I already ripped all mine out. I'm 90% positive my set up was original

wydtrac.....The fuel line should be one piece, except for the short rubber pieces that connect the tank to the line, and the line to the fuel pump. Inline Tube sells a perfect replacement in steel or stainless steel. Hope this helps......John

Damn! I knew I should have waited to hear from you John. I already cut it and bent it to what was on it thinking what was on it was original. It was in two pieces with a rubber section as previously mentioned. I did see the one piece from Inline Tube but was convinced I could never get it back in place on the car if it were in one piece. Too many twists and turns. I hate to have wasted all the time my buddy and I spent bending a new one just to have to trow it out. But I do want it to be as original as possible.....hmmmm.
Thanks.

wydtrac.....Inline Tube ships the line with a large radius bend with a sticker tag at the point where it should be straightened. They include instructions, but basically you just lay it on a flat floor and carefully unbend it at the tag. They make it in both stainless and mild steel. The stainless is not much more expensive, and doesn't get the surface rust from splashes or humidity, but both work well. All the factory bends are in the right places. Their brake lines are also perfect should you need them. If you choose to make this change, be careful with the clips that hold the lines to the frame. they get brittle and are hard to find. Hope this helps......John

It sure helps John. I was wondering about how they shipped it. I hate to have to do it, but I think I will order it. If nothing else, by making my own it got me into the garage for a while! I found the clips at Ames Performance.
Do you know or have a schematic of where the fuel line goes as it comes up from underneath to the fuel pump? Looking at how the old one came out I dont believe it was routed correctly.
Thanks again for your input. You are a great asset to this forum.

dlh

I got my Inline Tube fuel line today. Ouch on the shipping! But it is bent very close to what it should be. Only thing is....it's two pieces, just like the one I took off. I'll use it anyway. Lesson learned. It looks a lot better than the one I bent, that's for sure! Thanks for all your input on this one everyone. Let's see....what's next? Body mounts maybe? hmmmm, how do I get those out?!

Body mounts are surprisingly easy if your bolts aren't rusted in there. I did mine by myself in about an hour. All 14 or however many it was.

I took out all the bolts, put a floor jack under the rocker panel with a 2X4 about the full length of the rocker and just jacked it up enough to slide the old bushings out and put the new ones in. Repeat on the other side. I put it off forever but it was super easy. I bought all my stuff from AMES. It's not that cheap but I guess it's worth it.

That's what I have heard. Pretty simple. I could use simple for a change. I did see that Ames has these. I will keep you posted on the progress.
I finished with the fuel line tonight putting the rubber pieces in place. For the most part it fit pretty good, but one of the reasons that I replaced it was I thought I could make it fit better as it comes down from the tank and heads north. Mine stuck out about 6 inches from the body and looked like someone forgot to bend it tight to the contour there. Come to find out the new one fits exactly the same way. I cant believe they let it out of the factory looking like this!

Looks good.

I see you've got seat belts installed in there too. I've got them in the back for the kids. Safety first!

Good eye, seat belt bolts. Yes, first things first. That and the wife and kids refused to ride with me without them!

I actually refuse to wear one in that car because the steering column doesn't collapse. I want to bounce out from behind the wheel if I hit that hard cause I don't want it sticking through my chest.

Bonus is that there's so much mass and steel in front of you that it'd take one hell of an accident with these newer cars to really do that much damage.

I've installed belts in the back too. For safety, and because it's illegal to ride with unrestrained kids, even in old cars that were sold without seatbelts (they will even revoke your license). I've bolted them directly to the bottom of the car, and used large thick washers that came with the belts. When the belts are not in use they can easily be hidden between the seat cusions - a good thing when they are cheap looking aftermarket types. They have to be approved here, which rules out neat old style belts (i might overlook this if i could find some nice ones though ).

And unfortunatly the way i see it there is no way around it : It is dangerous to crash in an old car. Alot of things happened to car design in terms of safety during the last 50 years, so even though there is alot of iron in front of you and around you your likely to get hurt. Don't forget that there are no absorbtion zones - it's gonna hit hard.

Buttomline : Don't crash in it - it would be a damn shame for the car too

I like the idea of seat belts. I always wear them, new car or old. Something ingrained in me by my parents so long ago. Mom's '63 Chevy II Nova wagon was the first one and everyone since. It got to be a good habit and still is. The lap belt only is a bit concerning but beats imbedded horn buttons!

I finished the fuel line last night so tonight it was fire her up and hope for no leaks. Didnt find any and she purred like a kitten. I pulled the left side body mounts off and will try to jack her up without knocking her of the lift tomorrow or this weekend. I had a bit of trouble with the last one back on the drivers side. Couldn't break it loose so used the air wrench on it. The nut in the trunk broke loose and it just spun. Had to open the hole to it in the trunk and found that someone had aready done so. Filled it with plastic and painted it rust and all! That will have to be fixed, but got my daughter to come out and hold the wrench while I put the air gun to it again. That did it and it came apart. Thanks to Becca! I couldn't reach over the fender and hold the wrench while I worked the air gun. My arms aren't long enough!