Crushed

A break in the rain gave me the opportunity to jack the car up and pull the fuel line this morning.

I started at the front of the car, pulling the inner fender behind the driver’s side wheel. The nuts and bolts here were covered in undercoating and fifty years of road grime. Nevertheless, most came out fairly easily, though one twisted off, the victim of time and rust. Getting the inner fender out after it was “loose” was a bit of a puzzle. Inside was a collection of leaves, a collapsed bit of sound insulation and a rotted out drain tube.

The brake and fuel lines both have junctions behind the inner fender. Two metal fuel lines are joined by a short bit of 3/8″ hose. I cut the hose out–it looked original–and tried to siphon fuel from the tank.

No dice.

I jacked up the rear driver’s side and followed the line further back. It’s held on by three clamps and a protective plate in front of the rear wheel. One I pulled that plate, the mystery was solved. The plate had been crushed at some point, crimping the fuel line underneath it. I’m guessing that someone once jacked the car up under this plate, causing the damage.

I tried to blow through the line and couldn’t. It’s a wonder the car ran as well as it did–fuel was probably only dribbling through. Tomorrow I’ll get a replacement made at Royal Brass. Installation should be relatively simple.