I have a 2003 Corvette Z06 and need to get the rack rebuilt. The two pressure hose fittings are solid into the rack - using a flare nut wrench with a 2' tube over the end is not moving them. I'm soaking them in Aerokroil to see if this helps, but was looking for any other suggestions in case they're still not breaking free. The car has around 30k miles and has been used for track only - never seen salt. I'm removing the radiator to give better access from the front (and to give more access for the cleanup), but don't have any other good ideas.
Cut the lines off and use an impact?
Bop the wrench with a mallet instead of using a bar to get a sharp impulse?
A little heat?
I'm more than a little impressed flare wrenches are putting up with a 2' cheater...
trucke
SuperDork
5/4/22 4:04 p.m.
Freeze-Off is your friend. Use appropriate PPE: safety glasses and gloves. Don't let it touch your skin. This worked on my power steering lines on the FX16.
You will still need the line wrench and cheater bar.
In reply to trucke :
I looked this up and will try this tonight! Thanks for the suggestion
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
Cut the lines off and use an impact?
That's what I did when I replaced the high-pressure hose on my C5. The fittings are in a really tough place to reach on these cars. A new high-pressure hose is like $10 on RockAuto, and it's going on 20 years old, so it would be a good idea to replace it anyway at this point.
Since they're right next to each other, cutting the high-pressure hose might give you enough room to get a crowfoot flare wrench on the low-pressure hose. My experience is that those are way more rigid than flare nut wrenches, and give you a better chance of removing the fitting without rounding it off.
In reply to obsolete :
If the Freeze-Off doesn't work tonight, this is my plan. I'm planning to replace the HP hose from pump to rack anyway, and am just hoping to rescue the LP side with the cooler. The radiator will be out of the way shortly, so I'll have more access. Can't believe that these fittings are so tight - the factory manual says 20 ft lb torque. Ah, the power of corrosion.....
So the final solution was a hacksaw and cut the lines. Once the rack was off, I was able to remove both fittings from the rack using a socket and ratchet. I'll replace the HP hose with a Gates one, and will change the output from the rack to the cooler to AN fittings, and add a hose to the cooler.
