ok, i'm having difficulty removing the fuel line from the carb.. it's a QJet in a Skylark on a 455... there's essentially the 2 threads, which do i turn and how do i do it, it appears i pulled to hard and i've slightly twisted the fuel line... oops, but it's not coming off no matter what i do.. i'm getting really PO'd at the moment because i'm stupid and can't figure out the simple ****... so any help from you guys would be great... i feel like such a damn ammature... thanks in advance guys... i gotta get this intake off to get to that gasket... argh... must stop the burning coolant..
Hold the big fitting with a wrench and turn the smaller 5/8" fitting loose while you hold the 1" fitting. It should break loose, but they can be a real bugger.
Put the wrenches fairly close together, and pull together! Hope your using a line wrench on the smaller one! Big one is the filter housing, DON'T OVERTIGHTEN!!ou:
holy crap man, are you like the top poster on this site or what? every comment i make you make a reply... atleast once.. lol... thanks for the help, as soon as american chopper is done i'm gonan go back out and try my hand at it again.. if it's not coming out... i'm gonna just sell the ****in car... i've honestly had enough, i mean if i seriously cannot even get the damn fuel line off.. how can i do anything on this blasted car? once my dad dies i will be **** outta luck as he's the one that always saves me.. i'm just gonna give him the keys he's done more to it than me .. argh...
no, give it to ME:grin: If you decide to sell, call me...for real. I've had my share of posts on this board...:laugh: It just happens that most of the questions you ask are ones I've had personal experience with...so I jump on them. I sit on my computer at night and play with websites and graphics...and the occasional tv show...music on Winamp...computer repairs on friends' machines...etc. Always have the v8buick.com page open..all I have to do it hit F5 to refresh the new threads!:TU:
ya, seems everyone wants my car but me... argh... people stop at my house and ask me if it's for sale, car cruises, they ask if it's for sale... all my friends at work will stand watch over it when it's in the parking lot... me... i'd just be happy if the damn thing were done and i'd never have to put a damn wrench on it again... and to be honest, my car isn't anything special, it's a porsche red '72 skylark that needs bumpers rechromed or NOS bumpers, the interior needs to be redone, and the engine compartment needs a clean up... probably converted to disc breaks up front at the very least... i mean i've got so much more to do, it's ridiculous.. i've had the car for 4 years and my mom was like "well, you better learn before your dad dies then"... i've had it for 4 years now and i STILL can't do anything right, hell i can't even get the timing set right without my dad's help... and i want to work on cars for a living maybe.. ha... nothing will end a dream more than realizing you can't do ****... btw, you sound a lot like me... fixing computers, working on computer crap, listening to music, etc...
I grew up looking over the shoulder of a guy that restored 71-72 cutlass convertibles as a hobby, so I had my share of automotive know-how. BUT, I had never really got into the hands-on stuff until I bought my LeSabre at 16 years old. I still have to consult the guy I used to hang over, since I don't know how to do most "major" repairs on a car. He did guide me through a paint job, shock replacements, head removal (due to gasket failure), timing issues, points, brakes, springs, cooling system, baically everything I have ever done to my cars has had his word in it somewhere. So, you'll eventually get to the point where you can tackle a project by yourself. You still have all of us here to back you up when you have a question! I ask all the time!! Stupid things go wrong with my car, so I post the problem here and it's solved within a day...all due to the folks on the board.:beer I hardly ever have to ask the guy up the street anymore!
Kyle, don't give up, man. Nobody was born with the ability to know everything automotive from their first breath. The only way I learned to do anything right on a car was to do it wrong a few times first. One solution you may want to try is this: while having a friend hold the larger wrench steady, rap the smaller wrench with a mallet. I mean rap as in, "a sharp controlled blow" and not as in "swinging with both hands as hard as you can":grin: The shocking-type of action may break free the connection. I also recommend putting some rags under the connection to catch the gas. It's always useful to try some type of penetrating fluid on the stuck part, too. Don't ever forget that it's just a car, and the guys that built it on the assembly line did not have to qualify as rocket scientists to get their jobs.
if all else fails... Don't screw up the line or fitting unless you're prepared to dead line the car and get a new line... If you're doing something routine line replacing the fuel filter you still have the option of pulling the carb bolts and spinning the carb off of the line... may not be pretty but it works. regards
Re: if all else fails... no, i'm trying to remove the fuel line from the carb so i can remove the intake and replace the gasket that is believed to be leaking. i've given up on it, and i'll just have my dad do it because i suck at this and as soon as it's done the keys either go to him or the for sale sign goes in the window.. i've literally had enough of not being able to do anything to my car by myself, it's ridiculous that i even have a car that needs lots of work and i can't do any of the simple stuff even.. so.. piss on it, i'm done with old cars
I've said that a few timesuzzled: :grin: But then it becomes an addiction...kinda like this board:gt:
PB Blaster is heaven for this kind of work. Soak it and let it sit. Then soak it again....and again. It WILL come loose:TU:
Re: Re: if all else fails... There's nothing you can't do on that car. Maybe you're not very mechanically inclined or whatever, but you can still do do it. Don't be so down on yourself.
i agree. i'm an idiot and i could take my car down to nuts and bolts. all you need is an old car, this board, and a set of tools.:laugh:
its either work on this car yourself and save lots of money OR buy a new car and when something needs replacing and have to take it to the dealer to tell you whats wrong and the inital charge just for them to look at it is atleast 50 bucks not including labor. I chose to work on my own car. just so you know. new pads and pistons for the rear... grand total cost..... 45 bucks... including large bottle of brake fluid... not many other cars will be near that price to fix... front brake calipers for our cars... 30 bucks. each front brake calipers for a GEO 57 each nate
That's a good point, Nate. I have a friend with a jeep. It's two years old. He's into cars. I was showing him some pics of one of my repairs, where I had to get the heads off my engine and they'd never been off, so i took the whole front clip off and blah blah blah, looked like a big deal. he said, "jeez, you must spend a lot of money on that car. How much gas does it use, anyway?" I told him about 10 miles to the gallon. "wow, how can you afford that?" he said, then he said, "...oh, wait, you pay a hundred bucks a month for almost full insurance, the car's paid for, and you do 90% of the work yourself so you pay for parts only..." So, figure 100 bucks insurance and let's say, for wild arguments sake, 200 dollars a month for gas, and 100 dollars a month for little repairs (very inaccurate, as I never have to shell out 1200 bucks a year in repairs). that's 400 dollars a month to operate my car, which is an inflated estimate that stacks the deck against me, because by my math, when I was commuting 45 minutes to work, I was using 159 bucks a month in gas, at 1.59 and 9/10ths a gallon. But anyway- On his new(ish) Jeep, it's 300 bucks in payments a month, and 200 in insurance...that's a hundred dollars more than me, WITHOUT adding money onto his expenses for his gas! If he gets double my milegae, that's 100 bucks a month, bringing his operating costs to $600 a month. And when the warrantee runs out... I say: if you like the old car, stick with it, Kyle. Maybe you get yourself a reliable, newer car in the meantime, but keep the old car, store it so that it can't get damaged or become a ball of rust, and work on it slowly until you make the car reliable and you learn what you need to know.
well if you look at my sig, i do have another car.. 2001 Buick Regal GS... that's my daily driver... the old skylark is my weekend car cruise drive around car... so... it's not like it HAS to run, but again, the buick centennial is next week and i was hoping to atleast take her for a spin down the track a few times at Milan.. which reminds me i need to go buy a tach... argh... and all my other guages... *sigh* and i STILL haven't gotten the intake off... i'm letting some WD40 sit on it for a bit.. as i don't have anything else at the moment ... hopefully it helps a little
Didn't see it. Everyone has trouble getting certain bolts off their old engine. An impact wrench can do wonders for that. The impact action really helps. On my 455, I took it all apart with hand tools and 'cheater' bars. Of course I broke off three exhaust manifold bolts and shattered a 5/8" half inch drive socket, too, lol. That's when I started buying impact sockets whether I put them in the impact wrench or not:laugh: I could tell you so many stories of me blowing mufflers off the car (filled one with gas from putting the distributor in wrong and trying to start the car for 10 minutes. BOOM), window glass falling into the rear quarters as i drive, door striker bolts shearing off as I close the door, timing the car 40* off because the manufacturer's mark looked like a zero (really should have gone home after 14 hours working on the engine, but no, I had to rush), taking out and putting back in the engine 3 times on the same day because I forgot to do something two times, almost forgetting to torque a rod bolt on the #4 connecting rod entirely, my favorite one- losing reverse while the car was nosed in at a restaurant- while on a date....everyone has their weird problems with their old car. Just don't let it win:TU: I missed entering the HUGE (1100+ cars) yearly car show last sunday, so I understand how you feel. That show is about 1/4 mile from the house I grew up in. So close I used to walk to it. Really frustrating to not be able to enter the car. Saw a large number of Buicks so it wasn't all bad.
woo... got the stupid fuel line off... wd40 did the trick i think.. that and a much bigger wrench so now that that bugger is out, i'm wondering what you guys think the best way to get the heater control valve section off the intake is? should i just unbolt the whole thing from the intake or undo one of the clasps that hold the valve in place to the rubber hoses? i also found out the guy that put the engine in put a 195 degree thermostat in it... WTF? i went and bought a 160 degree when i went to get a new gasket for when i have to put this thing together again...
