Pre Bent Fuel Line

by 76 Malibu Sun Mar 05, 2023 6:30 pm

I am looking for a pre-bent carb to fuel line for my '76 Malibu. I am installing a 4bbl Q-jet before I take it out this spring and wanted to purchase a stainless prebent line. I found lots for a '75-77 Camaro. Is there any reason this will not work on my car? Should be the same setup, unless I am missing something?

by 73ss Sun Mar 05, 2023 6:51 pm

As long as the camaro has the same fuel pump outlet clock location then yes it should work fine. Compare fuel pump part numbers with the camaro and your car, I would also advise against stainless. It can be a absoulte ### to get to seal sometimes because it is hard. Especially on the fuel pump end, You can damage the pump if you crank too hard on the fitting.

by 76Chevelle2Tone Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:16 am

73ss wrote:As long as the camaro has the same fuel pump outlet clock location then yes it should work fine. Compare fuel pump part numbers with the camaro and your car, I would also advise against stainless. It can be a absoulte ### to get to seal sometimes because it is hard. Especially on the fuel pump end, You can damage the pump if you crank too hard on the fitting.

Yup vanity will always cause more problems than it's worth.

76Malibu I have a 76 Malibu as well and got mine at Inline Tube. Or are you looking at something that costs less

by zucchi Mon Mar 06, 2023 10:00 am

Other than the fuel pump being clocked the same, the manifold also matters. If you're using an aftermarket manifold that's taller than stock, you'll have fit issues. In that case, try using a fuel line for a Mericruiser 5.7 (SBC 350) equipped with QJ that has the cast iron bowtie high-rise manifold (#14096242; a cast iron copy of the Z-28 high rise aluminum intake). That fuel line should be part # 96081A1.

I used the stainless steel line you mentioned, cut a piece from the straight section just before it bends into the carb inlet and installed a glass inline filter. Installing that inline filter allows me to not only see the condition of the filter element but I can replace it without risking damage to the threads in the carb body. The other benefit is, of course, compensating for the fit using the tall Edelbrock RPM Q-Jet maifold.

by Limey SE Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:31 pm

I have always Heard Horror Stories and seen pics of cars Burning to the ground when that Glass filter gets to hot and cracks spraying hot fuel on hot headers and loosing the car / or truck its on in a Blaze of Glory

by zucchi Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:46 pm

It's been on the car since the 1980s with no issues other than finding elements and O-rings.

by Limey SE Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:55 pm

zucchi wrote:It's been on the car since the 1980s with no issues other than finding elements and O-rings.

One of the Lucky ones that it didnt crack or rupture, Its personal choice for me I will use the see thru Plastic ones when I do Mine I dont have that Kinda Luck LOL

by 76Chevelle2Tone Mon Mar 06, 2023 1:11 pm

Limey SE wrote:
zucchi wrote:It's been on the car since the 1980s with no issues other than finding elements and O-rings.

One of the Lucky ones that it didnt crack or rupture, Its personal choice for me I will use the see thru Plastic ones when I do Mine I dont have that Kinda Luck LOL

Zucchi like myself is using the car as a daily driver rather than as a leadfoot joy rider or dragracer. So I think that might be the difference. I can see how the glass might shatter under stress of more extreme driving habits though where everything is hotter even if briefly.

by zucchi Mon Mar 06, 2023 1:17 pm

It may be that I got a genuine Purolator rather than some cheap knockoff; they may have used tempered glass back then. Perhaps my tightening it just enough to seal it from leaking rather than completely squishing the O-rings. Could be I'm extra attentive to not allow the glass to come into contact with any hard objects such as the metal fittings.

Limey SE wrote:I have always Heard Horror Stories and seen pics of cars Burning to the ground when that Glass filter gets to hot and cracks spraying hot fuel on hot headers and loosing the car / or truck its on in a Blaze of Glory

Up until the late 1960's, GM used glass bowl filters. Not to over think it but has anyone calculated the failure rate? How many units sold v.s. how many failed? Since these have been around for at least 40-years, there should be lots of data to review.

by bracketchev1221 Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:14 pm

I like to put the fuel filter off the tank under the back of the car.

by zucchi Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:27 pm

Looked up the failure rate and found two contrasting vids.

This one shows that the failure was the metal rod inside the unit, not the glass:

The design looks like one of those cheap knock-offs. Furthermore, he may have tightened it too much thus putting too much tensile stress on that rod causing it to fail. The design of my old Purolator filter is more robust.

This guy says he's used them in his builds for years without problems:

As always, your mileage may vary.

by Limey SE Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:42 pm

Uncle Tony oh my goodness He knows all............. NOT ..... more entertainment than anything with him

by 76 Malibu Mon Mar 06, 2023 10:58 pm

Thanks for the advice. I am using an aftermarket intake, Edelbrock 2101. It looks like it might be marginally higher than a stock GM iron manifold. I checked the fuel pumps and both Camaro and Malibu use the same pump, so clocking shouldn't be an issue. As for stainless, I was more thinking for rust prevention, but I maybe I will just go with steel instead. It's cheaper anyway.

I was looking at Classic Tube for the fuel line , as inline tunes shipping to me is too expensive.

My plan was to just use the stock filter in the Q-Jet. I am not making enough power to need anything beyond that.

by Iggy Tue Mar 07, 2023 11:07 am

I have used pre-bent pump to carb line from Inline Tube with a Quadrajet on an Edelbrock Performer with no issues, fit like the stock intake. With today's fuel I always use stainless.

by zucchi Tue Mar 07, 2023 11:39 am

I ordered mine from Classic Muscle, # CME7305S.

by TW Monte Fri Mar 10, 2023 3:28 pm

Im using the stainless line from Inline Tube. The stainless is HARD to bend if you need to tweak it to fit right. I had to tweak this one in a couple bend’s to get it to fit correctly behind the alternator. OEM steel work have been much easier to work with.
Just my .02

by relic7680 Thu Mar 23, 2023 5:32 pm

I installed Fine Lines Part# CH22086 mild steel pre-bent line from Original Parts Group. I have a '76 GMC Sprint running an stock '78 GM truck/marine iron non-egr intake and '74 divorced choke Q-jet with an OE style '78-later 1/4" thick insulator gasket. The line required some tweaking out of the box with my handheld line bender.
I have found that the Edelbrock Performer 2101 and Holley 300-38 are roughly 1/2" higher than the stock GM plenum and won't fit with OE/repop steel lines. The two aftermarket intakes I mentioned have no real benefit over the OE iron units other than the weight, so I went with the GM stuff that I know fits. Just my two cents....

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