Canary94GT

This is the first time I've put the car on jack stands and looked underneath. However, I came across a pinched fuel line which has probably been there for decades.

We rebuilt the head recently at 119,000 miles and found evidence of the car running lean. After the rebuild, we bumped the jet up to a 66 from a 64 and that seemed to richen it up just right... the plugs look great and the car runs great.

What should I do about this?

2+2GT

Replace it. You'll have a time with the pre-bent line, you'll have to alter the bends to fit it around some of the undercarriage, and taking the drive shaft out will help a lot. Get new clamps for the trans tunnel, or at least the little butterfly clips that hold them on.

67t5ponycoupe

I would leave it alone. If it was ok before it will be ok now. The line is not pinched that bad and it sounds like you are only feeding fuel to an I6. I'm sure you can find much better things to spend your time and money on.

Canary94GT

Yeah I absolutely believe I should replace it. But right now I have no problems and it is running great. Obviously the carb is getting enough fuel and that's the important thing.

I didn't even know they offered pre-bent line. I guess that's better if I only have to alter bends not create them.

Just curious, would trying to pinch it back into shape most likely cause a leak or something?

2+2GT

Yeah, which is why I didn't suggest it. Of course, if you can spare the car for a while, carefully give it a try. It's mild steel, so you could be OK. If it leaks, you'll have to get the line. This can be done on jack stands, but it's way easier on a lift. The pre-bent line is shipped bent in half, and must be straightened in the middle. If the exhaust and shocks are on the car you'll have to temporarily bend it out of shape and back to clear obstructions.

4reboy

I was going to suggest trying to re-pinch it it doesn't look like the metal is creased so if you re-pinch it then it shouldn't have a crack or anything. If its not pinched then the line should have the same volume as if it was a perfect circle, just now its distorted into a oval shape, but should still have the same volume.

Flash70

You could cut that section out and replace with a gasoline safe line made of rubber or special types of plastics. After that you just put clamps on them.
PS you might want to siphon the gas out first and make sure none is in the line because sawing then filing down the lines could cause enough heat or sparks and catch it on fire lol. I have done this before. I do not know if professionals would recommend it but it worked fine for me.

JMD

If it were me I would leave it alone, that little bend ain't going to make a damn bit of difference.

If you just cant leave it alone, straighten it up with a pair of vice-grips.....
(unless you crush the living **** out of it, it will not leak)

IMO, because of the rust, (because it will be hard to put a flare in the line, NOT because it will rust
through or something), if you start messing with that line you might end up needing to replace the whole line.

Save that repair for when/if you decide to do a lot more resto work under the car.
(because replacing the whole line THEN will be easy, now it will be a b!tch.)

In my experience, USUALLY when I decide to do picky little stuff that doesn't make much sense,
it USUALLY snowballs into unpleasant and difficult repairs that suck.

Leave it alone.............. Save your TIME, ENERGY, EFFORT, and $$$ for stuff that ACTUALLY MATTERS!!

photocliff

JMD is right. Almost every time I fix something not really broken I end up spending too much time and money than I had planned on.

Canary94GT

Haha yes same here too. Tried to replace a cracked exhaust manifold and it turned into a full head rebuild and restoration project