Fuel line twisting on removal

[ken4444]

I'm trying to remove the fuel line to the front bowl of the carburetor but the metal tube is twisting.  I'm using a line wrench on the #1 nut below and pushing it toward the firewall, which is turning the nut left which should loosen it.  I was able to loosen the #2 nut a but but I don't know if that's correct.   How can I remove this fitting without breaking the tube?  (This is a Quickfuel carb but I have no idea which model.  I called Holley/Quickfuel but they were not able to figure it out after a few minutes.)

[zieg85]

You have to hold the #2 while loosening the #1.  I know this sounds bad but that is how it is done....

[bd]

Agreed.

Typically, twisting of the tube occurs when the carburetor fuel inlet nut is not properly supported with a backup wrench.  Spray around the tube where it enters the line nut using some lightweight penetrating oil (PB Blaster, Sili-Kroil, Liquid Wrench, WD-40, etc).  Support the carburetor fuel inlet nut (#2) with an appropriately sized open-end wrench to hold it stationary while loosening the line nut (#1) using a 6-point flare-nut wrench.

[ken4444]

Thanks for the replies!  I will continue to hold #2 while turning #1.  I'll add some liquid wrench and let it soak in.

Here's the backstory: This all started when the truck would randomly not start.  I used an inline spark tester and was getting good and consistent power to at least one spark plug, so I ruled out ignition system problems.  I pulled the rubber fuel line that feeds the carb and it had plenty of fuel spray out.   Taking a tip from Roadkill, if I tapped on the carb with a rubber hammer, the truck would start.  This lead me to think the float was sticking.  I pulled out the needle and seat assembly and it looked OK.  I cleaned with carb cleaner but the problem still remained.  So now I want to check the float assembly to see what it's doing.

[ken4444]

Okay, I got the fuel line off OK.  I was 90% of the way there already but I had to reposition the wrenches to get more leverage and the thing unscrewed without too much effort.  The float looked fine but I sprayed out the whole bowl assembly anyhow, and re-sprayed the needle and seat assembly.

I got it back together and it wasn't idling right.  Go figure.

I found this video that covers some tuning basics of this kind of carb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70hhpX2tfsE . I had to adjust the front idle mixture screws. They were out about 1/2 turn and I brought them out to 1 1/2 turns.  The bowl level was high, so I had to screw the needle/seat assembly down a few turns.  The accelerator pump and pump arm  clearance was wrong, which makes sense because I thought I had to remove that screw to get the front bowl off.  According to this video, there's supposed to be .0014 clearance here which seems pretty picky. I was able to get it somewhere in there.

During all of the adjustments I didn't have any fuel delivery problems, but it needs to sit overnight and I'll know if it's sticking again or not.  I also worry that I'm going to need to rebuild the carburetor because I suspect the engine may still not be running right after a test drive.  Who knows if there's a vacuum leak somewhere.