I have been a fountain of misinformation in this thread, forgive me. Turns out the oil pressure gauge I posted a link to in the beginning of this thread is actually a one wire sender and it WAS NOT the sender used with my pressure gauge. (EDIT: originally I thought an oil pressure sender was used in lieu of FP and that it was the reason for failure but I was wrong.) When I did a search I couldn't find ANYTHING that looked like my sender except that one and at a glance it looked exactly like it.

Soooo, long story short ...the correct sending unit was being used in the first place. Fred, what's funny is you and I had an e-mail conversation about my part number 10 years ago and I dug it up lol. My autometer PN is 0105(5709) and my directions clearly show it being used with a two-wire sender like the one that recently failed. It is the 2 1/16" "Phantom" electric fuel pressure gauge and the sending unit being used with it came with it. May not be available to purchase separately. I have to call Autometer when I can find time ...super busy in general right now.

My apologies for the misinformation. Perhaps a different brand of two-wire sending unit can be used or maybe this 3-wire unit I already have can be rigged like I was saying, I'll find out when I get ahold of them.

Ohhhhh LOOK WHAT I FOUND! .....there have been recalls on it!:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&r...l203l203l2-1l1

****!!!! Removing and replacing the sender with a cap I did the unthinkable OF COURSE. I put too much torque on it and it appears I've ruined the fuel line where the schrader valve is (I think that's what it is) where this sender is installed.

Questions:

- Can a fuel line be welded/tapped/repaired in some way or do I have to replace it?

- How do I remove it? ...I only see one screw holding it into a bracket on the drivers side. Also it goes into some type of slip fit connection there (thank God, this means the entire thing won't need replaced but just the part I screwed up). It wraps around the rear of the intake and looks to be "press fit" into the rear of the passenger side of the intake. Looks like I have one screw to remove and that I just pull it loose at the ends? How do you pull it though? ...someone at work told me I may need an "inline fuel wrench"?

- Finally, since I'll likely have to replace it ....where should I buy a new one? Dealer-only? ...if so I'm going with Jason Debler I guess (think that's his name ...the guy on here that sells a lot of GM parts reasonably from a dealership ...I have his info somewhere).

.....I even read about how you need to be careful with the fuel line but still screwed it up. It's so hard to work back there in such a tight area with something so delicate. First step is removing it so I can assess the damage, it is leaking pretty bad at the schrader valve.

lol I am living proof that stupidity has no boundaries ....

I'm pretty sure the hard line that the Schrader connection is attached to is captive in the end of the passenger side fuel rail. I don't think you can't get it loose. When they took the line off my rail, they cut the end of the rail off (which was no problem because they were welding on -AN fittings).

If you could cut a short piece with the Schrader valve on it off a junk yard piece, you could probably flare the ends of the tubing, cut your damaged fitting out, and use rubber fuel hose and clamps to insert it into the line.

The parts guy is Jason Cromer. Jason Debler is one of the owners of this site.

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#Dal_and_Jason

Thanks a bunch Fred. That sounds too time consuming to find a donor car and what not though, I think I'd rather get a new line and put it in (would rather have a new schrader valve anyway). This way I could make one cut in each of the lines (one in the old one and one in the new one) a few inches from the fuel rail, then butt the old line up against the new line inside of fuel hose with two clamps on each end for safety. Why do I need to flare ends? ...or would I need to in the scenario I'm presenting? I've never flared anything, I assume a simple wedge-tool that you push in the pipe will do this? ...limited experience here. I'm concerned about cutting the fuel line off too, how do I do this without sparking? I guess I'll drain all I can out of the line from the other end when I disconnect from the main line, anything else? Hacksaw or recip (gonna be hard to hack back there)? ...I have a new recip saw but haven't used it yet. Thanks again for the info.

Woulda been soooo much easier to just NOT break the fuel line!

Looks like I need to use one of these to disconnect the old line from the driver's side:

http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CEgQ8wIwAw#

UPDATE: Autometer is still honoring the recall! ...have to return the FP gauge itself (they don't want leaky senders returned) and they replace with a full sweep electric gauge/sender combo.

Here's a useful link I found about removal tools:
http://www.ls1lt1.com/forum/lt1-%7C-...oval-tool.html

....anyone have a favorite?

You need something to keep the hose/clamp from slipping off the tubing. Just flare the tubing slightly, so the hose has something to grip on to.

I figured that's all it was so I may do that, almost seems like you can get a better seal by NOT doing that though (assuming the piece of fuel hose is long relative to the pipe section being joined and you're using two clamps per end) ...we'll see when I get there.

Mechanic friend suggested I try to find a set of good used "fuel rails" from E-bay ...kind of along the same lines of your suggestion I guess.

I think my terminology has been off when talking about "lines" vs "rails". The part with the schrader threads is actually considered a "rail" or a "line"? lol not sure where lines end and rails begin ....I guess to simplify it lines are the rubber hose leading up to the engine and rails are the metal pipe? I'm doing my own research as I find time ....

....well the weather has finally turned beautiful here! ...lol nice that the Z is sitting in the garage with a busted rail ...."Murphy" and his law ....

Fred, why wouldn't I just replace the whole assembly with this? :

http://compare.ebay.com/like/1305207...=sbar&_lwgsi=y

....or ...yet another thought comes along. I wonder if someone sells sections of fuel line/rail with schrader attachments already on? ....more searching .....

....even though I just suggested it ...it kinda bugs me to think of replacing the entire fuel rail / line assembly for this stupid little piece ....

...the threads over the Schrader are 4AN ...correct? What about finding a 4AN "T" fitting to put inline with the rail/hose to replace my bad part? ...connect it with fuel hose like we've discussed. Search brings this up:

http://www.google.com/search?q=4+AN+...w=1024&bih=596

...getting warmer maybe ....
http://compare.ebay.com/like/1904483...=sbar&_lwgsi=y

The "rail" is the heavy aluminum piece that serves as a source of fuel for the four injectors. The "lines" are everything else.... also called "hard lines". Combined, they are the "fuel rail assembly".

I actually started to type the "get a 'tee' with a -4AN male fitting", but decided it wasn't the easiest solution and killed it. None of what you linked is the right part. "-AN" isn't a thread spec, its a spec for a tapered connection, including the 37* face angle of the taper and the pitch of the threads. The problem is that the typical fitting will have a -4AN on the "side out" (which you need), and either the same -4AN on the other two ends of the fitting, or some sort of NPT threads. The problem is how do you connect a big bulky threaded end to the smooth tube (line) that goes into the end of the fuel rail?

http://www.russellperformance.com/mc.../fit_tee.shtml

There are some "compression" type fittings that allow you to attach the -AN fitting to the smooth pipe... people here have used them to convert the plastic lines to braided SS. But now you need a pair of compression fittings which end in a male -AN connector, and some way to connect the -AN male end to the "tee" to the male end of the compression fitting. As I said, it's not simple.

lol, want me to weld a 1/8" NPT bung onto one of your rails?

That would be awesome haha. I think I've decided on getting a whole replacement fuel rail assembly. Even if I were to hack a piece off I'd have to remove the whole thing first anyway (don't see myself using a hacksaw under the cowl). Since I'm R&R the whole thing I may as well just replace it as a whole and have a safer setup that's less likely to spring a leak. My biggest fear is messing up an injector during the R&R, I'll read write ups before I begin.

So in the meantime if anyone has an assembly they want to part with let me know, I'll probably try to nail the best deal I can within the next couple of days. Thanks for the input everyone.

"haha"???? Go back and look at the picture I linked in my first post. Been working fine for 11 years.

Got the assembly off last night and I'm with ya! I'm considering welding it back on (it broke completely off and fell behind the motor during the removal lol). Actually I believe the old one (shrader) welded back on would be stronger than a replacement because the way it was "swedged" in there from the factory was rather weak, it's obvious just looking at it that not much was holidng it in there. Sorta disconcerting when you think of all that fuel pressure .....

Having a friend Braze it back on ....we'll see

I have had this happen as I had overtorqued a local fuel pressure gauge onto the shrader valve fitting and cracked the joint to the line. I removed the rail assembly and soldered the joint and was fine for about a month after which I replaced the rail assembly with one I got off ebay.

Charlie,

I have a spare rail assembly if you need it. Let me know.

Rog

It should be very easy to ascertain a spare fuel rail. That'd be the cheapest and most reliable alternative.