I am trying to install my stainless steel fuel lines on my 72 4 and have encountered some strange stuff where the lines exit the tunnel in to the engine compartment. anyone have a pic of how it should be??? this is how mine is.
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Not too sure whats up with the 1/4" steel plate on the clutch cable... Needless to say I have work to do before installing the stainless lines...

It would look like the rest of the firewall, the plate was a make shift fix, the weld on the clutch tube to the firewall may have broke loose.

You'll have to remove the plate and check it out and repair it properly.

I went back out and continued to take fuel lines and the clutch cable out so I could see what the heck is going on. someone decided it was a good idea to just cut into the back end of the tunnel to patch the original fuel line with a short length of rubber hose. In the process they destroyed the area where the clutch cable comes through... very very nice... Should the clutch cable run through a metal tube in the tunnel or is it a cable with a flexible housing? are both fuel lines suppose to have their own grommets where they pop through?? Pic with fuel lines removed.
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hope this might help
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Yes that helps alot! Ill have to make a plate with the holes in it as close as I can get them to the right place... maybe just cut out the old f'ed up part.... thanks!

Here's another angle that might help (with Tangerine SS lines)
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Paul

So do you even have the tube that runs through the tunnel for the clutch cable?

It looks like this was (poorly) fixed once.

there's a sawsall party in colorado today. if the year is right, and that section is servicable, place your order for the firewall section. be generous with the demensions.

k

Here is a picture of my car showing the tubes in the tunnel before I welded in the rear floor pans. It almost looks like your clutch tube was removed. It should be welded in at both ends. Often the weld at the front breaks. This adds additional stress at the firewall breaking this weld also. Maybe this picture will help you visualize what it should look like.

It was indeed very poorly fixed once... There is no tube at all for the clutch cable. It is just loose in the tunnel. (new cable already ordered). Who has the firewall patch panels? I may just made an aluminum plate with the tube on it for the clutch cable and put come screws into the good part of the firewall and remove the old "repairs" all together. A sheet metal saw is a beautiful thing.

Or you could take rhodyguy up on his offer and fix it right.

the party is mentioned/detailed in the classifieds. i think the section in the 74' i have is still good, but the pictures posted show his car as orig a tailshifter.

k

I like to do stuff the wrong way so ill machine me a little plate and screw it in there. Thanks though!

The repair I made on mine as shown in the picture is from AA About 125.00 The area around the shifter was a lot of work. There is a backing plate missing and the flange for the shifter boot is missing. You may not need that at all. I cut it in half to get it in. A donor part or a new panel using the section that is damaged is your best bet. Loose clutch tubes will cause real poor clutch / shifting problems. Do a search on broken clutch tubes. The repair is really not that difficult. Lots of luck.

my '70 is not a good donor either, sorry.

Here is a picture of mine. Sorry it's not a real close up, but I have a few more pictures somewhere in my BLOG.

SS fuel lines

OK I got to digging around again last night and found that the rest of the clutch tube was still in the tunnel. Loose without the clutch cable running through it... Very nice. Does it really NEED the metal tube to run through or is it having a tube tu press against at the firewall good enough? Starting to think about getting me a 110 welder and welding the tube back in place to a patch section. Any ideas?

Yes you need the tube! It must be welded to the rear AND the front. The weld in the front is easy. Search! There are several threads that show a couple of ways to do this. I think the best is by cutting a section at the top of the tunnel near where the tube should end, making the repair and welding the tunnel back together. Really not difficult. If you want more detailed pictures of where all these tubes go, ask or search. I can post some of mine. Other pictures are here already.

So what is the most important part of the clutch tube? The exit point at the firewall is where all the load is correct? And the tube just guides it to the correct location with out getting in the way of anything? Im asking because my clutch tube looks like about 3 inches is missing off the end where it SHOULD come out the firewall. So if I weld the tube back in place and extend it with a sleeve to come to the firewall and weld the patch in to the firewall should it work correctly? this way if it breaks again it is only breaking the firewall piece not the entire tube??? Seems like this could all be prevented by thinking of some better way to reenforce the firewall/tube...

The missing section of the tube sure complicates things. The sheet metal at the firewall is kinda thin. When I installed my new one, I had the advantage of having the lower tunnel exposed. I added reinforcement at the inside to help prevent future damage. If the tube at the front is not secure then the tube can move in the tunnel. This is a very common problem. The rear repair may require cutting some of the tunnel to expose the tube enough to make a repair.

I planned on making my patch out of stainless steel and putting sheet metal screws into the firewall to secure it and just weld the tube back in place in the tunnel before I add the panel on the firewall. Will this work?

I would have doubts about this approach. Do you have a welder? A MIG welder? I would stick with CRS. Makes things less complicated. Maybe you can make an extension tube. The clutch tube is 12mm OD. Using a section of pipe with a 12mm ID to couple them together. You still need weld them together. Since they are behind the firewall, not sure how you will do this without cutting the bottom of the tunnel. If all this welding is beyond your shop and skills, I would take it to a body shop and have them make the repairs. Collect come parts to make it easier for the body shop to make a nice repair. Have you looked to see if the front attachment has broken off? Odds are very strong that it has.

Yes it is broken off at the front too.. it is just loose in the tunnel without the cable in it.... stupid clutch cable!

Go back and look at the picture I posted. You can see the large tube in the middle. It is secured at the front, in the middle and at the firewall. On your car, all 3 connections must be broken. I am not so sure how important the middle connection is. It may be that the entire tube is enact just pushed forward and out of the way. I would try to feel around for it and see if it could be reconnected at the front and the rear. Use a mirror at the front to see backwards in the tunnel. Lots of luck