Carb Rebuild Fuel Filter Housing cannot remove Flair nut

[MakoJoe]

Hi all,

So I rebuilt my carb on my 1977 Corvette today and for the life of me cannot get the fuel line removed from the fuel filter housing.   

I had to cut the metal fuel line so I could remove the carb from the manifold.   After I removed the fuel filter housing with the fuel line attached I put the darn thing in a vice and was able to pound on 5/8 Boxed end Wrench and after about 10 minutes of beating on this assembly I still cannot get the Fuel Line Detached from the Fuel Filter Housing.   

I sprayed it with penetrating oil and will pound on it again tomorrow but if I cannot get them apart can I purchase the Housing Nut?   I have searched the web and cannot find one and all they sell is the fuel line.

Thanks for the help

[429bbf]

welcome aboard mako. do you have access to a torch? if you do take and heat up the steel line good and hot . i don't know what your expertise is . just don't melt it.let it cool all the way down and it should screw out.i get stuff like this from people all the time its easy for me to work on this i have all the tools. fwiw

[Ethan1]

 How about two big crescent wrenches? Always works for me.

[ejowrench]

You will probably need some assistance of some heat like mentioned before but before you do, soak the assembly in a 50/50 mixture of transmission fluid and acetone. Acetone can be bought at a hardware store in the paint section. This mixture works better than any commercially available penetrating fluids. Also, some extra leverage may be needed from the wrenches you are using.

Sometimes the fuel line rusts to the tubing nut, and then the flare gets frozen to the housing, so carefully drilling out the fuel line with the correct size drill [same size of fuel line] may help free things up a little too [Don't drill to far or you will run into the housing].

To prevent this in the future, I use chassis grease upon reassembly on the fuel line and the threads, don't use Teflon tape, it may get sucked into the needle/seat.


Maybe some day I will post a picture of my Q-jet, which I use a nylon fuel line with a quick release fitting-no tools needed, just pinch a plastic retainer and pull it off!

With  patience and a little luck, it may come out without damaging the housing.

[MakoJoe]

I ended up soaking it overnight with the new formula WD40 Penetrating oil and was able to put the housing into the vice the next day than pounded on the 5/8 closed end wrench few times lightly with a hammer to break the parts free without damaging anything     I thought about using heat but did not need it.        The carb is back on the engine again and I just need to readjust the choke and high speed idle.    When reassembling the housing and flair nut I used a copper anti-seize compound on the threads so it will not freeze the aluminum and steel again.

It took me about 5 hours to clean up the carb and replace all the gaskets.   I have run the car about 5 times since then and it runs a heck of a lot better now.

[429bbf]

good to here you got it out . another good way is to put it in the vise and take a good 6 point impact socket and use an impact wrench on it .ive spent my life fixing things so its easy for me to get something apart or together.

[Ethan1]

 Glad you got it figured out too. I have had some ornery ones too. Good ole WD40!

[ejowrench]

Glad to hear you got it out without damaging it.

I would like to caution anybody from using anti-sieze [especially copper kind] in this area. This compound contains a lot of 'solids' that probably would not be a good thing for a carb to injest. Using regular chassis grease [ easily dissolves in gasoline] or Teflon sealant [ not tape!]  would be a recommended  replacement for anti -sieze.