[scottiej]

so here's my situation. i recently moved, so most of my tools are in storage 200 miles away, which includes my good open-ends. so of coarse, of all the things that could go wrong, my lift pump starts leaking around the crimped union of the two halves of the pump housing. this is fun too, i just happen to have a new lift pump.... in storage. which means i have to buy another one. anyway, when i start removing the lines i notice a previous owner has already replaced the lift pump.... and rounded the nut on the hard line fitting. yay for me! it doesn't matter anyway because i don't have my open ends, so i run down the street and purchase a 5/8 open end from Advance for $10 and come home to confirm that, yep, the last guy who had trouble didn't bother to put any anti-seize on the threads to make removal the next time easier. i've been spraying it with penetrating oil often and just letting it sit for a while, keeping my fingers crossed, but i'm doubtful. it's already 75% rounded so things aren't looking good. oh, and no vise grips either.

so here's my question, if I hacksaw the hard line near the fitting, can i then just make a soft splice between a new hose barb on the pump and the cut hard line?

 

[scottiej]

just remembered, i do just happen to have a cheap flaring tool, so if i could find the right fittings locally, i could cut and re-flare the hard line, but i don't know that it would be long enough once cut.... i want to keep this simple and fix it right later.

 

[Jasondt2001]

It might be easier to run to harbor freight and get a new one-time-use set of open ends honestly.
You might be making an aweful lot of work for yourself.

 

[scottiej]

a new wrench is plan A. the Advance i went to didn't have flare-nut wrenches (or tube wrenches or hose wrenches). the Napa i'll be going to a little later does, so that's what i'll try first. HOWEVER, i need a plan B just in case the remaining corners of the hex head decide they want to give and create a nice, round nut. this thing is too seized for vise grips, at least ones small enough to fit into the cramped quarters.

 

[Jasondt2001]

OHHHHHHHH ok. Shoot man, I'd spray that thing with penetrating lubricant today (and I mean DROWN IT) and keep it wet all day. Then in day or two try it

 

[scottiej]

okay, this might help others with the same problem, so i'll post it.

this isn't the first time i've noticed the previous owner has made some.... interesting mods. sometime ago i removed the intake manifold, and with it the secondary fuel filter. at the time i noticed some plastic hosing between the inlet and outlet fuel lines and the filter. i figured it was just a flexible link to cut down on vibration and the previous owner just replaced the hoses with unusual lines (he was trying to do a wvo conversion). now i realize that what's been done is this: i guess the heads on the compression fitting nuts on the 2nd fuel filter got rounded, so he used hose barbs instead, cutting off the ends of the hard lines and splicing with flexible hoses (i thought there was something fishy about the end of the hard lines not being flared). anyway, it's been working fine over the last several thousand miles since i bought the truck, so the same solution on the other end of the lines should be fine.

better yet, i've previously mounted the 2nd filter remotely (on top of the psngr wheel well) in preparation for a wvo conversion of my own. B100 rated hoses were run from there to the back of the intake manifold. SO, long story short. i plan to bypass the hard line entirely and just run the hose from the 2nd filter inlet straight to the outlet of the lift pump below the alternator using hose barbs in place of the compression fittings. in the process carefully cutting through the old steel line (make sure not to cause sparks!!) and saving myself the headache of fighting with the seized bolt. too bad i'll loose the ambient heat coming through the steel line off the engine when i start running wvo.... oh, well.

 

[striker40]

For the cutting of the steel fuel lines a really good investment for your tool box is a small tubing cutter.It cuts fast,no sparks and no metal filings inside your fuel lines.Most a/c supply stores carry the small sized tubing cutters for 1/2" down to 1/4" tubing.

 

[scottiej]

striker, thanks for that, almost forgot one of the few random tools i still have with me is a small tubing cutter.

and an update. went to homedepot with the new lift pump in hand hoping to find a 3/8 hose barb that would thread into it. guess what? NOPE! as if things would actually go smoothly. it would appear the threads are of an odd sort, either metric or AN. now i get to call around seeing if anyplace locally has AN fittings. can anyone confirm that these fittings are infact AN? thanks

 

[jmay2174]

The fitting is a flare tube nut. It should be the same as used on brake lines, etc. Do you have any good hardware stores in your area. Better source than Home Depot for barbs.. If you try to clamp a hose on your tubing, try to put a slight bell or flare on the end to help prevent the hose from slipping off. Don't try to use a bead compression fitting, not as reliable.

 

[scottiej]

jmay, i'm not so sure it's that simple. when at home depot, i did find a hose barb that ALMOST fit. looked perfect, but wouldn't thread into the pump. after doing some research, i'm pretty convinced that it's a metric size. 10 x 1.25 mm to be exact. my damn tap and dye set is in storage, with my thread counter, so all I can do is eye the thread count on the exposed female fitting of the pump. it seems i count 20 tpi, which doesn't jive with SAE, but metric 10 x 1.25mm breaks down to 20.3 tpi. if anyone would like to disagree, PLEASE do so. finding a metric hose barb locally is gonna be a real *****.