a 1986 v6 (173cid MPFI) sports coupe camaro.. sunroof.. in good shape.. about 98000 miles.. and I should get it painted soon... I'm thinking about bailing out on this car because NOTHING turns.. everytime I try to change ANYTHING theres bolts stuck on it or its rusted away.. really you might say "well thats common for an old car" well yea a few bolts here and there.. but this car was under a tree for 7 years.. EVERY bolt on it is stuck.. I almost used a WHOLE can of PB blaster on the fuel filter so far and its still not out.. a shop said they would have to replace the fuel line to change the filter... (!!!!!) So whats it worth? I wanted a firebird anway...

sounds like one them cars your going to have to give away

i'm serious


if you wait long enough for a fool you might get $500

is that it?.. wow.. no wonder gm are scrapping these things.. they depreciate like nobody's biz.. I can't find any 82+ v6 mustangs for that =/...

They only depreciate to 500 when the owner loses all care for their car and lets it go. If you live in a place that uses salt on the roads then these hard to turn nuts and bolts are a common problem; so it does not effect the resell value of your car. But if there seized because nothing was ever repaced then the car would be seen as neglected by the buyer leaving it with a small price tag.

i thought 82+ stangs are either 4 or 8 cylinder

Sorry I meant a 4 banger mustang.. and a lot are stuck because the car was sitting for 7 years under a tree... a lot got changed on it tho.. prev guy before me changed the breaks.. oil.. wipers.. tires... I changed the antifreeze.. put a new pcv valve.. alternator.. battery.. wires.. plugs.. fixed all the lights.. (mostly) fixed the steering column.. and now i'm trying to get a new fuel filter in it but the old one is stuck.. looks to be about $100+ to get a shop to replace it... it doesn't have very much rust on the body.. no bondo although the original paint is mostly gone.. most of the rust spots are small and could be sanded off.. in a worst case scenario it would need a new drivers side door and hood.. but the rust isn't nearly that bad.. that would only be if you want the comfort of totally rust free parts... I would probably sand that all off anyway.. bondo it up (like i said the rust spots are small so I wouldn't even use that much) and paint it.. so everything would look straight and smooth

Wait, somebody already found a solution to the frozen fuel filter! I think it was mike1986fyrbird ... it was a replacement piece of fuel line, with a hose to connect the new line to the original piping. Let me do a search...

Also, do you have the right tools? (no offense meant, and stop me if you do) A set of quality (Craftsman or Home Depot or (wow) Snap On) 6-point sockets, and a 12" breaker bar will get most anything un-stuck. Make sure you're using the right sockets, too- they absolutely positively have to be metric. Cheap (or worn out) sockets strip out bolt heads. Also, when you're loosening a bolt, use hard "hits" on the breaker bar or ratchet, not just one solid PULLLLL. A long pull can induce a side load, which twists the socket sideways, which reduces your torque and strips the bolt head. Use as short of an extension as possible, the shorter the extension, the less of a side load you'll induce, and sometimes, an extension can "twist up" and absorb your efforts.

When I dropped my trans down, I was using a 1/2" drive breaker bar, and a lonnnng 3/8" drive extension with a 1/2"-to-3/8" adapter. The bellhousing bolts would NOT move! I broke two free, took me a few hours. I thought Lee Myles (previous trans guys) overtorqued the hell outta the bolts. My dad suggested we go and get a 1/2" extension instead. We picked one up, along with a 1/2" socket, and i'll be damned- I had the other 4 bolts out in under an hour. (If you do a search, you'll find the exact combination of extensions and swivels and ratchets I used for each bolt.) That 3/8" extension was twisting like a rubber band, and absorbing my strength. The thick 1/2" drive extension wasn't twisting, and it broadcast all my strength to those bolts.

tom comes through again :hail:

Found two solutions...

Here's a good one by Gumby, I've seen that filter he's talking about, too. You might want to use a hose that's meant for "fuel injection", they have reinforcements that make them stronger than regular low-pressure fuel line. http://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/show...hreadid=113970

And I was close, it was Mikes86SC. At least I got the first name right! Here's his first message, with our suggestions: http://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/show...threadid=96818 Looks like 86bird_28v6_5spd_ramair used the same fix as Gumby did. And here's Mike's solution... which reminds me, I need to pick that kit up! http://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/show...hreadid=100181

I am not sure. I thought the 3.8 was avaibe in them till 84, because I guy who works with me had an 84 stang with a 3.8, but someone could have swapped it in. But I know it was only 4cyl and 8 cylinder for a few years maybe 86-93.

ok so far i've been spraying it twice a day.. i'll keep it up til friday.. if I STILL can't get it off then my other choice is to take it to pep-boys.. guy behind the desk seemed pretty confident that his 'master' mechanic could get it off.. and if he couldn't then he said I would have to seek "more knowledgable help"... or what he really looked like he wanted to say "your boned if he can't get it off".. so trust pep boys?... my only other choice after this is another shop that would want to replace the whole fuel line.. racking up mucho $$$ i bet.. no other shop will do it.. they say $40 for just a fuel filter change.. but if its hard to take off (like my case) then thats extra $$$.. and one shop said they won't touch it if its stuck... as far as that solution in the other threads about cutting and replacing a section of the line myself.. i'm not sure I want to do that.. I mean I broke one side of the filter free... I thought "hey i can just get this off and then hold the line and turn the FILTER".. anyway after I get that side off all I got was a load of gas on the ground and me as gas just leaked out and wouldn't quit... kinda burns my arm... so.. pep boys anyone?

I woudn't trust Pep Boys, but then again, I wouldn't trust anyone. Ask around, see if any of your friends or their relatives didn't like that exact Pep Boys for mechanical work. But if they can't get it free, they'll probably be doing one of the things I dug up above.

I would find out if they'll charge you if they can't take the filter off.

I usually put my arm through a trash bag, and put wrap-around safety goggles over my eyes if I work by the fuel filter. The safety goggles I mean are almost airtight, not like a pair of glasses, almost like the kind you'd use underwater.

Ok been spraying it for a week and still no turn.. I went back to pep boys and asked some DIFFERENT mechanic guy there about it and he said something along the lines of cutting the line and replacing a section of it (like that other thread mentioned) but he said for them to do it would run me $75-90... for just the labor.. then + for the parts.. so thinking about doing this myself... I would ask in the other thread but since i'm assuming its long dead and Mikes86SC is probably long gone.. i'll ask here...


First how or what do I use to cut the fuel line? While the guy was showing me the lines it appeared that they were just a straight tube already bent to the right.. so I just need to cut the old one.. screw this in.. and hook up the new piece.. which brings me to my other question.. how do you connect the cut end of the fuel line to the new piece of line.. the mechanic when he was explaining the process to me said it was just a piece of rubber.. but I was a little sketchy on that.. only a piece of rubber holds them together?.. that wouldn't leak or slide off in time?...

On a side note anyone ever buy anything from one of these Homier sales.. its a lot of tools cheap.. like $30 for an automotive spray gun kit that has a gun.. touchup gun.. and mask.. sure it won't be a 'professional' gun but it seems like it would get the job done.. they also had a $10 car buffer.. $5 set of flare wrenches.. and they HAD a $180 2ton engine hoist and 1250lb engine stand combo.. I wanted to buy that.. but alas.. it was sold out when I got there =(... I know you get what you pay for.. but i'm wondering if these 'cheap-o' tools will last more than a day or two... check out www.homier.com to see what i mean

I'm going to bring this back from an "old message"...

They sell little tubing cutters... they look like a little c-clamp, and have a sharp wheel on one end, and rollers on the other. There's also a nut on one end; when you spin the nut, the cutting wheel moves in or out (to adjust for tubing size). You tighten the tool around the line, then spin the entire cutter around the line... it cuts a groove. Then you tighten the wheel and spin it again. Then you tighten the wheel and spin it again. Then you ... Finally it cuts through. Then you use something called a "reamer" to widen the cut end back to it's normal inside diameter. (The cutting action makes the tubing's inside diameter thinner than it should be.

Here's a picture of a cutter:
And here's a whole web page of them: http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/TTW58.html (The ISO "bubble" flare is what all 84-now GM cars, including our F-bodies, use for the brake lines.)

I can't find a picture of a reamer; looks like a narrow, pointy triangle. You just put the narrow end into the tubing and spin the reamer. I have this tubing bender (not the same maker, but same design) and it has a reamer on the back of the tool that swings out. Maybe you can find this one.

As to a way to stop the line from sliding off... I don't know.