Dino's Gas Lines Removed - Clean Up or Replace --> Member Advice

[Jason Edge]

As part of my undercarriage cleanup and and restoration of my 64 Coupe de Ville 'Dino', I removed both gas lines (my car has AC so it has a 5/16" supply line and 1/4" vent return line) to gain better access the the right rear floor pan area I was working on, but also to clean up the gas lines and either use these, or other gas lines I have on hand. These have pretty heavy crud and undercoating on them and not sure the condition until I take down to the metal. I do have a couple of other good sets I can use from my parts stash. I will reinstall with the freshly cad plated clamps and screws but have a ways to go under the floor board restoration, so they will be off the car for a while.

QUESTION:

• Have any of our members address the fuel lines?
• Did you simply clean up you old lines and reuse?
• If so, did you clear coat, paint, etc.?
• Did you buy new lines, have new lines fabricated.  
• If so where did you buy them?

I am sure I will reuse original lines because I have them. I am not sure the condition of the lines I took off Dino but will find out when I get the crud off them. They are super straight and know they are unmolested and hoping I can reuse them.

I am leaning toward clear coating them. They are too big to cad plat, and not sure I like the idea of painting them but it would give some protection. 

See pictures of my gas lines as removed and let me know your thought or experience on gas lines.

[Jason Edge]

Would love some feedback if anyone has touched their gas lines.  I know this is one of those sight unseen items but it is critical to keeping the car running ... and safe! Just to add I will go back with the cad plated spring clamps. I will make sure it is the final install before installing them. 

[Kevin Wray]

Jason, I replaced the ones on my 63 CDV with stainless steel about 15 yrs ago. Can't remember where I got them, but checked Caddy Daddy and they have both lines in stainless for roughly 325 plus shipping. I paid a lot less than that then. My recommendation, since you've got the originals and some spares, is to clean off the crud with brake cleaner, then use one of those stainless mesh pot scrubbers and get all the rust off. If you get them down to bare metal, I would clean them with lacquer thinner or paint prep wax and grease remover then shoot them with self-etching primer from a rattle can. Then if you wish, you can give them 2-3 coats of aluminum silver rattle can paint. Shooting clear coat on the raw metal may work, but I don't think you're going to be able to clean them up to the point they look new under clear coat. The primer and aluminum topcoat will last a long time. Good luck!

[Jason Edge]

Kevin, Thanks for the feedback. The bad and good news is there is a heavy coating of undercoating on the lines and think that has help preserve them pretty well. I used the air impact brush to go down to metal in a couple of places and it was smooth... zero rust, not even surface rust. The only hint of surface rust was under where a couple of the clamps were I will take it down to metal and see exactly what I have got. The aluminum/silver paint could be a good option if I don't end up with a "like new" appearance. I have a lot of car and home projects (as always) and will get the paint and buildup removed on the coming days. I do have a more serious issue to address and may bring that up soon.

[Phillip Hill]

Jason when I cleaned my fuel tank and lines I removed the crud with a flapper disk fitted to my 4 inch grinder they came up like new then coated the lines and tank with POR 15 silver and while I had the tank out I also cleaned and coated the inside of the tank with POR 15 tank sealer 

[Jason Edge]

I have the POR-15 catalog and see a lot of products and will keep that in mind. I have used a product by Eastwood called Tank Tone which game me similar results as yours.  This was 16 years ago back in 2009 and it has held up pretty week but have a few yellowed areas ... not sure if that was from gasoline from above running onto it... but still looks pretty good. See pic below. I first need to get my to metal and may work on it some this evening. Oh, and I have used the flapper fitting on my air grinder. Works great on  100+ year old sold oak panel house doors to get many layers of paint off. I tried that EX strip stuff... it ain't easy! LOL

[Jason Edge]

ps. I forget how good the brake cleaner works. I had run out and just ordered a 12 pack. I For gunked up stuff I will often use cheap dollar store oven cleaner, or get the commercial driveway cleaner and set part in a vat but this is too long to vat. I can grind it of with the wire wheel but would prefer to wipe it off with a solvent cleaner. I will follow up when I get it cleaned. 

[Marty Smith]

  New preformed lines available at Inline tube . https://www.inlinetube.com/products/scaf6201?year=1964&make=Cad...   131.00   If I'm late to the party my apologies

[Jason Edge]

Marty. Thanks for the link. I see the sell both the main line and return line as OE steel and stainless. I will have to keep them in mine once I see what condition mine are in under the grime. 
I also added Inline Tube to our Parts & Service page. 

[Jason Edge]

OK. So I finally got back to my gas lines and tried brake cleaner on the main gas feed line and used over a 1/2 a can and that undercoating, etc, was just not coming off. I soaked, sprayed, scrubbed with abrasive pads, steel wool, etc, but it was slow going and thought  "I can do this much faster with my air tools!"  Normally, I would grab my air grinder with the metal wire disc, but instead decided to try a nylon mesh sanding dish as I knew the nylon would deeply scar the metal but quickly take it off.  I gave it a shot and in 20 minutes I had everything off the long long gas feed line. It would have taken less time but that is a REALLY LONG LINE! LOL.

After that, I hand sanded first with some 120 grit sandpaper, and then tried an area with 220 grit. I can of course go smoother but the area I hit with 220 looked almost like new. 

I basically see zero corrosion on my feed line and will use it. There will be not bending, or guessing, it will mount right up.  I am hoping my vent return line is in the same condition. I may try it tomorrow. My initial inclination was to get to smooth shiny silver then clear coat...and thing that is what I may end up doing.   If my line was rusted or bent or compromised some other way I might look at using one of the two other gas line sets I have on hand or order a new one as we have seen are available. 

OK. so back to the initial nylon mesh sanding disc and taking the main coat of undercoating and 60+ years of road grime off, below is the first small section I did. You can see the feed line at bottom and the vent return line above it. I will post some pics later when I smooth it down further and perhaps clear coat it.  I think it is cool I can save the original gas lines and bring them back to life. It is almost as if Dino has gone to the dentist and got a couple of teeth cleaned!

[Chris McBride]

I worked at a Zeibart rustproofing shop in the 1970s.  The easiest available methods of dissolving or removing that brand of rustproofing were mineral spirits or kerosene.  I don't know if those liquids would also work on whatever form of undercoating covers your gas lines but, if so, it may be efficient and cheaper.  

[Jason Edge]

main gas line is done. I just need to do the vapor return line. That build up was just very thick and solid in sections. I hit with some of my heavy duty commercial driveway cleaner, Brakeleen, Acetone and Gasoline but didn't have kerosene. I was think the Brakeleen brake cleaner would start to dissolve but over night really didn't do much of anything. I decided I could knock it off fast with the nylon mesh disc, and not scar it too much, then smooth it back down.   I had used those nylon mesh disc (and flapper sand paper discs) on my old 100+ year old interior house doors with many layers of paint and they really did the trick. I have several projects going on at once (as usually) and will report back on the vapor return line.